MEYER & RAHM, 

BINDERS, BLANK BOOK' 

And Paper Box Manufacturers. 
23 >< Main St., Euansuille, Ind. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

^FM^ 

®]|ap inpttritf^ "^s, 

Shelf Z' 



2? 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



ADVENTURES 



OF 



\^' 



CHRS. L YOUNGBLOOD 



DUKINU 



TEN YEARS ON THE PLAINS. 



■i-^^^ 



(OMPir.ED FROM HIS OWJSf JOURNAL 










BOONVILLE, IND:"^^^ 

BOONYILLE STANDARD CO., PRINTERS. 

1882. 






copyright by 
Charles L. Youngblood. 

A. I).. IH^'2. 



PREFACE 



In presenting this little volume to the public 
I have no apology to offer nor any explanation 
to make to the inception of the work, except 
that it was written at the request ot^ many of 
my friends^ who, knowing of my life in the 
West, were anxious to have my adventures 
written and pubHshed according to the tashion 
of the day. 

Concerning the work itself I have only this 
to say: It is not fanciful description of imagi- 
nary adventures, but a true recital of a few of 
my hunts on the plains and such other occur- 
rences as might be considered worthy o\ 
mention. These are not altogether in the 
order of their occurrence but as I call them to 
mind, and in most instances dates are omitted 
on account of incompleteness in m}^ data. 

And now I leave it with you, necessarily 
incomplete and imperfect as it is, and even if 
it does not come up to your expectations from 



a romantic point of view, I can assure you 
that I have kept within the bounds of truth, 
which I hope will make up for all it may lack 
as to romance. C. L. Y. 



-c-^ 



DEDICATION. 



To my aged father whose paternal care and 
affection has been so constantly manifested 
toward me during my whole life this little 
volume is affectionately dedicated by the 
author. 



CONTENTS 



Chapter. Pi'^ge., 

I. Introduction. 
II. Speculation — Poultry raising in 

the West — Killed by a bear, etc. 1 2 

III. Out for a hunt — A missing over- 
coat — Indians on a tramp — "Old 
Poison Stinger." 20 

IV. Bad Indians — Buffalo "'chips" — 
A frightened hunter — Not quite 
dead yet. 28 

V. On Smoky River — ^The Indians 
go through our cauip — A big 
chase after them. ^6 

VI. Good luck — More bad Indians — 
Some of them suddenly die — 
White women's scalps — How 
the Indians hunt buffalo — Indian 
squaws. 47 

VII. A change — A night with the 
wolves — Black tailed deer — Fe- 
rocious animals — Back to the 
plains. ■ 58 

VIII. In Kansas again — Not a happy 
family — A thief not in luck — 
Emigrants on a hunt — More 
Indians. 67 

IX. The way soldiers chase Indians 
— A greeny catches a buffalo calf 
— "Help me let it go." 73 



X. Unsuccessful hunters — Dangers 

of the plains — In Missouri again. 80 
XI. On the plains — A gang ol badgers 
Scared by Indians — The horse as 
a picket guard — Snow bound. 84 
XII. Plenty of game — In a bad fix — 

Couldn't stand the Indians, etc. 95 

XIII. Wild horse — Thirsty and hun- 
gry — Bones on the plains — The 
result of strong-headedness. 103 

XIV. New Yorkers on a hunt — Not so 
very dead — A regular chase 
after wild horses. no 

XV. Another wild horse chase — lud- 
ians! — A big drive — Close brush 
with the red skins. 121 

XVI. Eno^lishmen on a lark — A man in 

trouble — Dodging a detective. 143 
XVII. A sudden rise. The beaver. 
"No badger, thank you." Scared 
New Yorkers. 160 

XVIII. Hungry. Eating prairie dogs. A 

hunter's relic. Killing antelope. 173 
XIX. South of the Arkansas River. 

Buffalo. Wolves. 178 

XX. An editor tries it. Plenty of 

game. Big haul. 181 

XXI. Prairie on fire. Buffalo stam- 
pede. Excited. Hungry. Snow 
bound. Wild horses. 189 

XXII. Conclusion. 198 



ADVENTURES 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD 

DURING 

TEN YEARS ON THE PLAINS 
CHAPTER I. 

I N T R O D U C 1 I O N . 

The author of this sketch was bom in An- 
derson township, Warrick county, Indiana, 
April 9th, 1826. His father was a native of 
South Carohna, and his mother hailed from 
Virginia. The first forty years of his life was 
spent in the place of his nativity, during which 
time he was engaged in farming. His educa- 
tion was just rudimentary, only such as could 
be obtained in the primitive log school house 
with its big open fire-place. The old-fashion- 
ed schoolmaster armed with rod and ferule, 
the roaring log fire and the blue-backed spell- 

(2) 



lO THE ADVENTURES OF 

ing-book are among the many things of 
childhood to which memory often reverts, and 
the mind of the writer loves to look back upon 
those early times when the log-rollings, the 
quiltings, the wood-choppings, the camp- 
meetings, and the thousand and one different 
occasions of gatherings together of the people. 
It does seem to me that people were less sel- 
fish and careless of their neighbors' welfare; 
they certainly were more kind and friendly 
then than now. But times and things have 
changed; the days of the husking-bee, the 
camp-meeting and the old-fashioned speHing- 
school have passed away, and everybodv is 
now on a grand rush to get rich or great. 

Perhaps it was because of the decay of 
primitive customs, and the change in sur- 
roundings, coupled with a kind of veneration 
for things of ye olden times, that caused the 
writer to grow tired of the new order of things 
and turn his longing eyes to the West for a 
repitition of the things of his boyhood. 

Finally, in 1865, this yearning for the joys 
of the rough and tumble life of the back- 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 



II 



woods became so strong, that, bidding adieu to 
relations and friends, he took his wife and 
children and turning his face westward, and 
travelino^ across Illinois and Missouri, brousfht 
up in Kansas City, which was then but a small 
towm on the line between Missouri and Kan- 
sas. 

At this point his life and adventures in the 
West, which it is. the purpose of the following 
pages to relate, begin, and this little introduc- 
tion is closed, hoping that the mind of the 
reader is prepared to follow him through his 
narrative, with at least an ordinary degree of 
interest. 




12 THE ADVENTURES OF 



CHAPTER II. 



SPECULATION POULTRY RAISING A MAN 

KILLED BY A BEAR, ETC. 

When I arrived at Kansas City, in 1865, it 
was such a little, unpromising looking place 
that I conceived a dislike for it immediately. 
I had money enough to have bought it almost 
entire, and, in the light of recent develop- 
ments, have regretted a thousand times that 
I did not do so. The squalid village of a few 
huts, has, in the sixteen intervening years, 
grown to be a thriving, busy city of several 
thousand inhabitants. Its situation upon one 
of the main lines of travel and emigration, 
makes it certain to become one of the princi- 
pal western cities, but the prejudice I first 
conceived against the place was so strong that 
I tailed to discover any future for it, and pre- 
vented my making any speculation on the 
place. 

I remained here but a short time, and then 
pushed forward up into Kansas, but did not 
like the country. It was so totally different 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. I3 

to what I had been accustomed, that I could 
not make up my mind to locate there. I had 
been used to ten-acre fields, and the broad 
unfenced prairie did not suit me. I was raised 
in a country where there was plenty of timber, 
and did not see how I could get along without 
it. So despairing of suiting myself in such a 
country, I turned back to Missouri. Here I 
finally bought a large farm near the center of 
the State, where I remained until 1872. 

While living here I suffered considerably 
from what is commonly called "bad luck," but 
perhaps a better name for most instances of 
this class would be mismanagement. But be 
this as it may, I managed to sink several thou- 
sand dollars in real estate. A railroad route 
had been surveyed through the section, and a 
tow^n laid out. As work was already begun 
on the proposed railroad, I thought it would 
be safe to invest on the strength of it. I ac- 
cordingly purchased a good part of the town 
at a big price. The railroad fell through, and 
my town lots depreciated until I was com- 
pelled to almost give them away. I missed 



14 THE ADVENTURES OF 

it in not buying Kansas City, and also missed 
it in buying an imaginary city. 

Disheartened at my loss I determined to 
"go west"' again, and accordingly started out 
with about two hundred bushels of dried fruit 
and a lot of butter, I did not try Kansas this 
time, but went to Denver, Colorado. From 
Denver I went to Golden City, thence to Black 
Hawk City, Central City and Nevada City. 

Here I sold my produce and began to cast 
my eyes about to see what I should do. Every 
thing and everybody seemed to be in a hurry; 
even the mountains seemed to move, out of 
pure sympathy with every thing about them. 

Every man I could see seemed on a rush for 
money, and that he was getting it. Men do 
not all dig gold and silver here to make money. 
I noticed many engaged in occupations that no 
man in Warrick county would at all think of 
engaging in. Among the other queer avoca- 
tions that are followed out here, I noticed a 
poultry ranche. It seeined to me, at first sight, 
that this was about as nearly nothing as any 
business I ever heard of, but I found upon in- 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOI). l^ 

quirv that it was not so small after all. I'he 
ranche was about five miles from the mines, 
where thousands of miners were at work, and 
in the neighborhood were several boardini;- 
houses, some of which had as many as hfteen 
hundred boarders, and the poultry man found 
ready sale at high prices for the products of 
his ranche. Besides this there were a great 
deal of scraps, crumbs and the like about these 
boarding houses that he got merely for taking 
it out of the way, which made good food for 
the poultry. This made the expense of the 
ranche small, arid he received from hity 
cents to one dollar a piece for chickens, and 
about the same per dozen for eggs, of which 
he was selling at that time about ninety dozen 
a day. He had about two thousand hens be- 
sides other poultry, and as the labor was light, 
the expense small and the prices enormous, he 
was making money rapidly in the poultry 
business. 

In this part of the country I received about 
my first impressions of the animals of the 
West. I happened one day to be passing a 



l6 THE ADVENTURES OF 

house, where a man, who had just had a fight 
with a cinnamon bear, had been placed. Of 
course on hearing this I dropped in and heard 
the fatally wounded man, as far as he was 
able, relate the circumstances. He had shot 
and badly w^ounded the bear, and was follow- 
ing its trail, hoping to be able to kill it, through 
a rough stony place, and as he was going along 
as noiselessly as he could for the rocks, he sud- 
denly came upon it and did not have time to 
shoot before it sprang upon him and dashed 
him to the ground. In his struggles to release 
himself from the animal, both his legs were 
broken, and he saw that his only chance was 
in strategy, as he was match for the bear in 
strength, and he lay perfectly still as if dead, 
when the bear after eyeing him closely for a 
moment or two started slowly away. As soon 
as the bear was a few feet off he raised on his 
hands and knees — his le2:s both beinor broken 
below the knee — and started to crawl away. 
This attracted the bear's attention and it 
turned and pounced upon him with greater 
fury than before, this time breaking one of his 



CHARLES L, YOUNGBLOOD. I 7 

wrists. He resorted to the same stratagem as 
before, but waited until the brute was out ol" 
sight, when he again started to crawl toward 
home, dragging himself through the snow 
which was about four inches deep. A few 
moments after the struggle, his brother hap- 
pened to be passing that way and seeing the 
the marks of the light, not knowing that it was 
his brother w^ho had been torn nearly to pieces, 
went on the trail of the bear, which, when over- 
taken, was for another tight, but a repeating 
rifle proved too much for it, and he soon had 
it safely dead. He then started back to see who 
the man was who had been in the clutches ot 
the bear, and his feelings may be better imag- 
ined than described, w^hen, after lollowirg It 
about half a mile, he found it was his brother. 
The wounded man had crawled that distance 
with one wrist and both legs broken. The 
poor fellow was in great agonv and lived but 
a few hours. His father said he would have 
the bear skinned and sleep on the hide as long- 
as he lived. 

A few days after this I fell in with some old 



1 8 THE ADVENTURES OF 

hunters at Golden City, who were just on the 
eve of starting out on a big buffalo hunt, and 
I thought that here was a chance to have some 
sport, and perhaps make some money. Some 
of my readers are perhaps not aware that sport 
is not by any means the w^hole object in buf- 
falo hunting, but many men have almost made 
fortunes in the business. The flesh is ex- 
cellent and when properly cured is readily 
sold at good figures, and the hides are no drag 
on the hunter's hands. 

While we were cleaning up our guns pre- 
paratory to starting out on the hunt, I came 
very near getting into a little difficulty. I 
thoughtlessly put a charge in my gun and lired 
it out of the door at random. Almost imme- 
diately a policeman came running across the 
street, and taking hold of my arm said, 

''Come along, sir." 

I saw that I was in an aAvkward predica- 
ment, and concluded, like a great many men 
who are caught in uglier scrapes, to try the 
insanity dodge, which I played so successfully 
that he said he would let me ofl' this time, but 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. I9 

warned me against repeating the otiense. It 
is useless to add that I was very careful after 
this not to tire any more random shots in 
town. 

After making all necessary preparations we 
started out to get some buffaloes, and in the 
next chapter my readers will find a full ac- 
count of my lirst buffalo hunt. 




20 THE ADVENTURES OF 



CHAPTER III. 



OUT FOR A HUNT A MISSING OVERCOAT 

MY FIRST BUFFALO INDIANS ON, THE 

TRAMP "'OLD POISON SLINGER," ETC. 



Three other men and myself left Golden 
City to go about eighty miles in search of 
buffalo. The tirst game we struck was a herd 
of antelope, into which we lired, killing one. 
We then went to a house about a mile off to 
stay over night. We proposed to the man of 
the house to furnish the meat and he furnish 
the rest. He replied by saying that he would 
do so. Of course we thought it was all right, 
and our antelope went free, but the next 
morning he charged us five dollars for his 
hospitality. This seemed very mean, but the 
boys contrived a way to get even with 
him. He had been telling of a new overcoat, 
for which he paid fourteen dollars the day be- 
fore, and when we left the coat went too. He 
had his live dollars, and we had his fourteen 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 21 

dollar overcoat. As it was a partnership coat 
we took turn about in wearing it. 

We travelled on until we came to what 
ought to have been ''good hunting," but as we 
saw no buffalo we were at quite a loss to know 
how to get them, as there was no timber in 
which we could conceal ourselves, it being an 
open prairie with not a tree for many miles. 
While preparations for camping were being 
made, I went about twenty miles from the 
railroad and struck a herd of buffalo. I was 
careful not to get too close to them for two 
reasons: a herd of those animals, to a novice, 
look simply frightful; and I was afraid they 
would take fright and run away. When I 
was within about five hundred yards of them 
I aimed at the herd and fired, and had the 
supreme satisfaction of seeing my first buffalo 
fall. I was too much elated to try to get any 
more just then, though I might easily have 
done so, but went back to camp to relate what 
I had done, and we were soon on our way 
after my buffalo. While on the way w^e saw 
a large one coming nearly toward us on the 



22 THE ADVENTURES OF 

run. I left the others and got right in the 
animal's course and lay down to conceal my- 
self, and as soon as he was near enough I hred 
and saw the wool fly ofl:'him, but he kept on 
coming. I put in another cartridge and flred 
again, when he dashed right at me, and I be- 
gan to think that I had gotten into a rather 
bad scrape, but when within a few steps of 
me, to my infinite relief he fell dead. I after- 
ward found out that I had not done anything 
wonderful, but I thought at the time that I 
knew all about killing buffalo. We resumed 
our journey, and had gone but a short distance 
when I noticed a large herd about a mile ofl'. 
I started and went as close as I thought safe 
and killed one, and immediately the others 
rallied round it bellowing and tossing their 
heads. I thought this a good chance, so I kept 
blazing away until I got eight. I was certain 
then that I was the champion buffalo killer of 
the plains. We soon dressed them and started 
back to camp. We had gone but a short dis- 
tance w^hen we saw a large band of Indians 
coming toward us, which caused us not a little 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 23 

anxiety until we discovered that they were 
friends. There were about fifteen hundred of 
them and they had a permit from the Govern- 
ment to hunt for thirty days. This was the 
first large band of Indians I had seen, and it 
was quite a sight to me. The warriors were 
in front, followed by the squaws and luggage. 
The papooses, or babies, were lashed on* 
horses, w^hich were turned loose and driven in 
a kind of herd. Besides the papooses, the 
luggage was lashed on the pack horses and 
w^ere driven by the squaws, while the men rode 
on before at their ease. The weather was 
very cold and it w^as snowing at the time, and 
pelting the little papooses in the face and on 
the hands, but they seemed to be tough enough 
and were taking it easy, laughing and crowing 
and their little black eyes shining like black 
beads. 

Buffalo meat was low and it did not pay 
much to save it, and we went hunting just 
for the hides, and in a few days had killed 
over a hundred, which we skinned and left 
the carcasses to rot on the prairie. 



24 THE ADVENTURES OF 

As we were going into camp one day I saw 
three buffalo lying down, and, having only live 
cartridges, slipped up as close as I could get 
and killed two and wounded the other. One 
cartridge failed to fire, and I w^ent back to the 
w^agon to take the cap off, but wiiile I was 
picking it out it exploded, nearly tearing my 
hand off. This laid me up for nearly two 
weeks. 

One day while my hand was sore and 1 
could not use my gun, I was strolling along a 
branch, I heard an unusual noise, and looking 
up saw the ''tips" of some Indians, I could 
not tell how many, just as they passed over a 
ridge. As soon as I saw them I lav 
flat down, and they passed on without 
seeing me, and it was well for me 
that they did not, for they were hostile 
and, as I did not have my gun, would have 
made short work of me. I met them often 
after that, but was generally better prepared 
for them, as I always had my "old poison 
slinger" with me. 

"Old poison slinger" is the name that the 
men gave my gun. It was a Sharp's rifle, 50 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 25 

calibre, made to load and shoot eight times a 
minute. It would throw a ball to kill a dis- 
tance of live miles. I have killed buffalo with 
it at a mile, and have shot with it so far that I 
had plenty of time to take my head from it 
and see the ball strike. 

Soon after I hurt my hand two of the men 
went off, and there were only myself and an- 
other man left, but he was a good shot and 
we got along very well. We were out shoot- 
ing one day back about 20 miles on Cold Hell 
Creek, and, besides killing several buffalo, 
we wounded one cow that lay down and my 
partner went out to kill her. Before he got 
very close to her, she sprang to her feet 
and made a dash at him. The reader will 
bear in mind that a buffalo, when badly 
wounded, gets desperate, and will rush head- 
long at its enemy with a force that makes it 
very much safer to be out of the way. When 
he saw what she meant he dropped on one 
knee, and taking rest on the other, waited until 
she was within twelve feet of him, when he 
fired, hitting, her in the jaw, stunning her, and 

(4) 



26 THE ADVENTURES OF 

before she had time to recover shot her through 
the heart. 

A few days after this we went about twenty 
miles east of Cold Hell Creek, on the bed of 
the Republican river, where we remained and 
hunted about two weeks. We were here two 
or three days before we saw any buffalo, but 
on getting up one morning and going out a 
mile or two, we saw the largest herd that I ever 
saw anywhere. I could not tell how far east 
and west they extended. They came in a run 
that shook the ground like an earthquake, and 
frightened our horses and made them almost 
unmanageable. They were all that day and 
night in passing. We wondered what could 
be the cause for such a large herd passing on 
a run, but found out that the Cheyenne Indians 
and the Utes had been fighting, and the Utes, 
being driven back, fired the prairie to prevent 
pursuit. This fire in the big tall grass of the 
prairie drove the buffalo, antelope and wolves 
out. We kept firing on them and killed one 
hundred and three while they were passing:. 
We could have killed as many more, but 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 27 

stopped occasionally to skin what we had 
killed. We were compelled to remain up all 
night on account of our horses, and besides 
we could not have slept for the noise. The 
heavy, continual thunder of their tramp, and 
their incessant bellowing, made so much noise 
that sleep was out of the question, even though 
circumstances were otherwise favorable. I 
have seen a great many herds of buffalo but 
never before, or since, have seen one equal to 
this. 




28 THE ADVENTURES OF 



CHAPTER IV. 

BAD INDIANS BUFFALO CHIPS A FRIGHT- 
ENED HUNTER NOT QUITE DEAD YET, ETC, 

It was not long before the Indians became 
so bad that hunters were compelled to go in 
squads of from eight to ten and upwards, and 
then it was with more or less risk. Hunters 
were killed almost every day, but the Indians 
are general!}^ to cowardly to make an attack 
with anything like equal numbers. Their 
favorite plan is for a large band to surround 
about three or four whites, and shoot them 
down or put them to death by torture. I 
will not stop here to describe any of their 
methods of torture, but will do so in another 
chapter. 

I remember one time that I was one of a 
squad of ten buffalo hunters when a band of 
Ogallahs came over from their reservation on 
a thirty days' permit from Uncle Sam to hunt 
not far from us, and one day a squad of them 
came over to our -camp and got to horse-racing 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 29 

with some of our boys. Thev were runnintr 
''one horse for the other,'' and the Indians lost 
their horses. They then put up their guns 
and lost them. They did not seem to be much 
chagrined over their loss, but shook hands 
with us all around and were entirely too friend- 
ly, so much so as to arouse our suspicions and 
render us very uneasy. As soon as they left 
we brought our horses up close, got our 
supper as soon as we could, put out our camp- 
tire, put our guns in fighting trim, and pre- 
pared for the attack that w^e felt sure would 
come. 

About two hours after dark we discovered 
them coming. Their object evidently w^as 
to get their horses back and steal some of ours, 
and, if they caught us off our guard, kill us. 
We waited until they were as close as we 
thought they ought to come, and then opened 
fire on them with our repeating rifles. This 
was wholly unexpected to them, as they had 
depended on taking us by surprise, and all that 
could run did so. Some of our men sprang on 
their horses and pursued them a short distance, 



30 THE ADVENTURES OF 

and helped them to hurry along to their camp. 
We did not sleep much that night, and 
did not leave camp at all the next day, know- 
ing that we wonld have some kind of settle- 
ment to make with them, and about lo o'clock 
in the morning we noticed a large squad of 
them coming toward us. The reader must not 
forget that the Indian is Uncle Sam's pet, and 
we did not dare do anything unless we were 
attacked, but had gotten everything in read- 
iness by the time they came up. The chief^ 

who spoke fair English, said: ''You d — d 

killed four of my men out there," 



pointing to where four dead Ogallahs lay. 

One of our men, Hank Miller, said "Paw- 
nees," meaning that it was the Pawnees that 
had killed them, but the old chief roared out 
''Pawnees, no Pawnees," and drawing his 
finger around his head to indicate that had it 
been the Pawnees that killed his men, they 
would have scalped them, which, of course, 
we did not do, expressed his utter disbelief 
by saying '^Poo, poo, poo, no Pawnee." 

They sat on their horses and bandied words 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 3 I 

with US for some time, watching very closely 
for apportunity to make a dash on us, but we 
were in readiness for them. We had our 
guns in our hands, with our thumbs on the 
hammer and our fingers on the trigger. We 
could have shot in a second, and dropped ten 
Indians, and they knew it. Seeing that it 
would not be at all easy to punish us, they soon 
rode away muttering imprecations on us as 
they went. They did not disturb us any more, 
and we resumed our hunting as usual for 
thirty days, averaging a hundred buffalo a day. 
At the close ol this hunt I went back to 
Missouri, and remained about six months, 
when I again started west. I made arrange- 
ments with A. Buckmaster and L. J. Shilder 
at Warrensburg, Mo., to sell meat for me, and 
took two men, Louis Allred and Silas Mc- 
Ferrin, with me. After about fourteen days 
travel we came to "good hunting." Buffaloes 
were plentiful and I made an average of eight 
a day. The hides and flesh of eight good 
buffalo are worth about $50, so you see it 
was paying me pretty well. 



32 THE ADVENTURES OF 

We were camped on what is called Sappy 
river, and were twenty miles from timber. 
While here the snow fell about twelve inches 
deep, and we were compelled to remain in our 
tent three days without fuel, the snow storm 
coming so suddenly as to prevent our laying 
in a supply. We onh' had a small amount 
gathered, and it consisted mostly of buffalo 
chips, which is simply the sun-dried excrement 
of the buffalo. It will probably seem to many 
of my readers in the East, that it would make 
very poor fuel, but in this section of the coun- 
trv it is preferred over wood or coal for many 
purposes. I have seen hotter fires made from 
it than I ever saw from wood. Some of my 
readers mio-ht have a little delicacv about 
using such fuel, but here it is nothing to see 
ladies gathering it in their aprons. In nearly 
every house you can hnd a sack full of it 
standing in the corner, and when the fire gets 
low, the lady of the house takes a few chips 
from the sack and puts them in the stove, and 
nothing- more is thousfht of it than when vou 
put a stick of wood on the fire, or a lump of 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 33 

coal on the grate. We managed to get along 
without getting frozen, and after the snow 
went off we resumed our hunting. 

The two men who were with me were no 
hunters, and 1 had them employed to help me 
take care of the buffaloes after they were 
killed. One day when we were out I had 
killed several very close together, and while 
w^e were skinning them, we saw, about 'a mile 
away, a big buffalo coming nearly toward us, 
and Louis Allred said to me, '^CharHe, let me 
shoot that one." "AH right," I rephed, "there 
is the gun." "I just want to kill one," said 
he, "to be able to say that I killed a buffalo." 
I handed him the gun and the cartridge 
belt, and he stalked off like an old soldier. 
The buffalo was lost and was running as hard 
as it could, looking for company, right toward 
him. By the time he was two hundred yards 
from us, the buffalo was pretty close to him 
and still coming, and looking pretty scary. 
He brought down the gun as if he were going 
to shoot, but as the buffalo kept coming he 
concluded to get out of the way, and started 
(5) 



34 THE ADVENTURES OF 

back toward us for dear life. As soon as the 
buffalo saw him it turned and ran too, but he 
supposed it was right after him and was ex- 
pecting at every step to be caught, and made 
his tracks as fast and as far apart as he could, 
w^hile the buffalo was going as fast as it could 
in an opposite direction. He looked a little 
sheepish when he brought up and saw the 
buffalo away off and running as fast as he 
could in another direction, but he thought 
he had run a frightful risk and was not at all 
anxious after that to have it said that he 
"killed a buffalo." 

Another time he and I were out together 
and were skinning several buffalo that we had 
killed. We came to one that was not quite 
dead, so I said that I would whet my knife 
while it was dying. I laid down my gun, and 
had hardly commenced sharpening my knife, 
when Allred screamed "Look out ! Look 
out ! " I raised my head and saw that it was 
nearly on us. I had not time to pick up my 
gun and had to run without it. The animal 
stopped at the gun and began pawing it, and 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 



35 



horning my coat, which, in my haste, I had 
left lying by the gun. As I had but the one 
gun, we could only stand and wait, but in a 
few moments it lay down right by the gun, 
and in about two hours died. 




36 THE ADVENTURES OF 



CHAPTER V. 

WE MOVE TO SMOKY RIVER THE INDIANS 

GO THROUGH OUR CAMP. 

We finally moved from Sappy river to 
what is called Smoky river. This is only a 
small stream, not being over a rod or so wide. 
x\lono: the banks are a few willows, and oc- 
casionally a cottonwood tree rises up into the 
air. As this was a good place to stay awhile 
we set to work killing buffalo, drying the fore 
quarters and selling the hind quarters. From 
this place I sent a large quantity to Buckmas- 
ter and Shidler, my agents, in Missouri. 

While here I took Allred and started to go 
to a herd of buffalo that I had, with the aid 
of my field glass, discovered about three 
miles oft^, leaving McFerrin to load cartridges. 
A short time after we left, a band of Indians, 
who had doubtless been watching our camp, 
came in si£:ht. McFerrin dodo-ed out of the 
camp and ran into the bluffs on the river bank 
and hid himself in the bushes where he could 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. . 37 

watch them. They approached cautiously, 
and, after firing several shots into the tent, 
dashed up and took possession. After rifling 
my camp of whatever they wanted, they 
moved off about a quarter of a mile and hid 
under a hill side, . on the road leading from 
Wallace to the Republican river — a road much 
frequented by hunters — and watched the road 
until a man named Charles Brown, who was 
driving a team and wagon, came along. 
Brown, who was one of a squad of hunters, 
was driving to Smoky river to build a fire and 
prepare for camping; the others were a mile 
or two behind skinning some buffaloes that 
they had killed. When he was near enough 
the red skins fired on him, and he jumped off 
the wagon and started to run, but was soon 
struck by a ball and fell, when one of the 
Indians ran up to him and shot him through 
the head. They then began going through the 
wagon, but before they had secured their 
plunder the rest of Brown's party came up. 
and the red devils made themselves scarce. 
As soon as the hunters saw the Indians they 



38 THE ADVENTURES OF 

took the horses out of the harness and pursued, 
but failed to overtake them. 

While all this was transpiring I was about 
three miles away, killing and skinning buffalo, 
in bHssful ignorance of everything else. I had 
just finished skinning and started after one 
I had wounded. The ground was uneven and 
as I was nearly at the top of a knoll I caught 
a glimpse of something just going over a 
hill, and remarked to Allred ''There is a herd, 
now," and ran to the top of the hill to shoot. 
It was getting late in the evening and fast 
getting dark, and when I reached the top of 
the hill I could see several objects coming in 
sight about two hundred yards to my right, 
which I soon discovered to be mounted men, 
but could not tell whether they were red 
skins or white men. As soon as they saw me 
they dismounted and began to make signs to 
me, but which I did not care about answer- 
ing. I did not know just what to do, and 
came near firing on them, but concluded to 
await developments. At last one of them 
mounted his horse and came toward us, when 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 39 

Allred said '"It is an Indian; shoot him/' I 
put my gun to my face and he called to us, 
and we knew then that he was a white man. 
When he was a little closer he said "Don't 
shoot, Youngblood; I came very near shoot- 
ing you. We were just after some Indians 
and they passed over that ridge as you came 
in sight. I am glad, now, that I didn't shoot. 
They killed one of our boys up at the road 
about three miles from here, and we want you 
to go up there and put him on the wagon so 
the wolves won't get him." We promised 
him we would do so, and started toward camp. 
We had gone but a short distance when we 
found an empty powder can, which, on ex- 
amination, proved to be mine. I knew by 
this that the red devils had gone through my 
camp, and had perhaps killed McFerrin and 
stolen everything I had. 

It was quite dark before we arrived at camp, 
and when we got within a short distance 
began to approach very cautiously, as we 
thought that perhaps they had left a detach- 
ment to take care of us when we came back. 



40 THE ADVENTURES OF 

We pushed on to where they had killed 
Brown, but, as it was too dark to find anything 
but the wagon, we concluded to go to camp 
and return when the moon rose, and put the 
body away. When we were within about 
two hundred yards of camp, I told Allred to 
wait, while I went ahead and made a kind 
of reconnoissance. As I was slipping along 
I spied the bulk of an object standing on a 
little rise. I thought it was a person, and, as 
I was standing very still and watching it very 
closely, I heard a very low voice saying: ''Is 
that you, Charlie ? " I then knew that it 
was McFerrin, and answered that it was me. 
He then came to me and said: "There are 
Indians here; they stole everything you had 
that they wanted. They took your horses, 
and shot at me, and I ran and hid in the 
bluffs where they could not find me." He 
said he was nearly frozen, and told me that 
he had seen them kill a man just out on the 
road. The moon soon came up, and we went 
down to the road and found the poor fellow. 
He was frozen stiff, and I put him on my 



CHARLES L, YOUNGBLOOD. 4I 

shoulder and carried and laid him on the 
wagon, so that the wolves could not get to 

him. 

We then went back to camp, when I found 
that the Indians had cleaned me out entirely. 
We remained in camp that night, and did not 
dare to make much light as we were afraid 
the red skins were still hovering about us. In 
t'he morning I saw a squad of men about a 
half a mile from camp and went to them. 
They knew nothing of the raid, and I told 
them all about it, then we went down to the 
wagon where Brown lay dead and frozen 
stiff. The sight of him raised their ire, and 
vengeance was sworn against the red skins. 
In a short time Brown's companions, who had 
been chasing the Indians during the night, re- 
turned, but without being able to come up 
with them. 

We all held a council of war, and it was 
unanimously agreed to follow, and, if possible, 
punish the Indians. We made up a company 
of twenty-six men and started after them. 
We were all armed with long range repeating 

(6) 



42 THE ADVENTURES OF 

rifles, and were supplied with from loo to 600 
cartridsres each. We follow^ed the trail for 
about seventy-tive miles, but without findin^^ 
the foe. The trail led us through some very 
dangerous places, several times through deep 
gorges and ravines, where we might have 
been ambushed and every one of us killed, 
with perfect safety to the enemy. But we did 
not stop to think of danger, and pressed steadily 
on until checked by a severe snow storm. 
The snow fell about eight inches deep, and as 
we had been dependirg entirely upon the 
grass for feed for our horses, this was a serious 
impediment to our progress. We could get 
along well enough ourselves by killing buffalo 
and antelope for food, but we could not pro- 
vide for our horses. We agreed in council to 
go to Fort Wallace and get provender for our 
horses, and then continue the chase. We in- 
formed the commander of the fort of our 
business, and requested him to furnish us with 
sufficient feed for our horses during the 
pursuit, but, instead of doing so, he sent a 
dispatch to General Pope at Leavenworth 



CHARLES L. YOUXGBLOOD. 43 

acquainting him with the tacts, and received 
in reply orders to send hlty men and four 
scouts to chastise the marauders. The four 
scouts were Hank Campbell, Louis Allred, 
Bill Peach and myself. 

We took up the trail wdiere we had left it, 
and had follow^ed it some miles, when one of 
the soldiers said, ''Yonder is a herd of buffalo." 
The captain examined the herd through his 
tield glass a moment and then said, ''There 
they are, boys ; if you want meat, here is a 
chance for it. They are Indians, and well 
armed." He ordered a halt, rolled out several 
boxes of cartridges and told us to take all we 
could carry. The Indians, meanwhile, Avere 
collecting, and making preparations for an 
attack. We were ordered to get into line. 
The teams were left under guard, and we 
moved on the enemy. The ground was level 
for two miles, and we went at a gallop until 
within a half a mile of them, when the chief 
raised a flag of truce and came toward us 
followed by four of his men. We stopped, 
and w^hen they w^ere within a few hundred 



44 THK ADVENTURES OF 

yards, the captain sent two of our men out to 
parley with them. They met about a hun- 
dred yards in front of us, but no sooner had 
they done so than ^he red skins immediately 
surrounded our men. Suspecting treachery, 
we made a dash and surrounded the live 
Indians. 

The parley was not at all satisfactory, as 
the Indians persisted in not understanding us. 
While the parley was in progress one of the 
Indians carelessly rode off a few steps and 
entered a ravine. He rode into this until we 
could only see him from the eyes up, and he 
sat there watching our every movement. 

Failing to get anything at all satisfactory 
from the chief during the parley, the captain 
ordered them disarmed. Eight of us covered 
them with our guns while they were disarmed. 
As soon as we seized them, the one in the 
ravine dashed away down the ravine, keeping 
himself out of danger as long as he could, 
then he dashed over a hill into the band of 
Indians. 

The Indians greatly outnumbered us and 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 45 

were as well armed as we were, and had the 
advantage in position. Our commander did 
not think it prudent to attack them where 
they were, but endeavored by various artifices 
to get them to change their position, but they 
stood their ground. The captain would not 
allow us to fire upon them where they were, as 
they had with them two German girls, whom 
they had taken alive the day before, after 
murdering the rest of the family, and, at that 
distance, we were as apt to kill them as In- 
dians. After considerable maneuvering the 
captain decided to return with his four pris- 
oners to Fort Wallace, and report the situation 
to the post commander. Accordingly the four 
Indians were placed under a strong guard 
behind the wagons, and we set out for the 
fort. The power of endurance manifested by 
these Indians during the journey to Fort 
Wallace surprised me. The weather was 
intensely cold, and a raw, bitter blast swept 
over the prairie almost freezing us to death. 
We had overcoats, overshoes and mittens, and 
yet our feet, fingers, ears and noses were frost- 



46 THE ADVENTURES OF 

bitten. The Indians did not seem to suffer at 
all from the cold, although thev were nearly 
naked. Besides, we could get off and walk 
occasionally to stir our blood, but they were 
compelled to ride all the way. The post 
doctor said that they were all right, and not 
at all injured by the cold, though they had 
only moccasins on their feet and but little 
clothing on their bodies. 

On the way to the fort, one of our prisoners 
made a dash to get away but was shot down; 
the others were turned over to Colonel Han- 
bright, and what became of them after that I 
never learned. 

I did not remain with the troops long 
enough to know whether they made any fur- 
ther attempt to punish the Indians or recapture 
the German girls, but found a man named 
Riley, who had a good team, which w^e hitched 
to my wagon, and started out on another 
hunt. 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 47 



CHAPTER VI. 

GOOD LUCK MORE INDIANS SOME OF THEM 

DIE SUDDENLY WHITE WOMEN's SCALPS 

HOW THE INDIANS HUNT BUFFALO THE 

yOYS OF AN INDIAN SQUAW, ETC. 

Riley and I hunted about four weeks, dur- 
ing which time we killed and dried about one 
hundred buffalo. The game soon left and 
moved about one hundred miles east, near the 
heads of several streams, viz.: Salim, Sappy, 
Soloman, Prairie Dog, Beaver and Big Tim- 
ber. We followed them and secured great 
numbers. Here we fell in with three other 
men, which increased our number to live. 
We were hunting together, and one day left 
one man at the camp to smoke meat while 
the rest of us took the team and went out for 
buffalo. As he was out gathering fuel on 
that particular morning, he heard a racket in 
the camp, and, supposing that we were driving 
in, stepped back to see what we were coming 



48 THE ADVENTURES OF 

in so early for. Instead is seeing us he saw 
fourteen redskins going through the camp. 
They had taken his gun, and as soon as they 
saw him, fired on him. He took to his heels 
and ran along a ravine, followed closely by 
several of the Indians. We were not far from 
camp, and as soon as the red skins saw us 
they stopped and beat a retreat. They did 
not go back to the camp, however, but joined 
the rest of the band in a cane-brake on Sappy 
Creek, where, the next day, thirty-seven of 
them died very suddenly. Two white men 
also died about the same time. One of the 
Indians that was killed was a chief He had 
a roll tied on his side, which one of the men 
took off, saying, "What is this" and when he 
had unrolled it, "What is it, sure enough ? " 
We looked and saw that it was a dressed 
buckskin cape, ornamented with white wo- 
men's scalps. Yet there are those who say 
"The poor Indian," and bestow upon them 
any amount of misplaced pity, by my acquain- 
tance with them does not develop any traits 
in their character or disposition worth}^ 



CHARLES 1., YOUNGBLOOD, 49 

respect. Of course the}^ are mistreated some- 
times, but this does not make them any better. 
By nature they are lazj^ cruel, vindictive, and 
a perfect type of treachery, never acting in 
good faith except they can gain a point by so 
doing. Mercy is a virtue which an Indian 
knows nothing about, and the truth never falls 
from his lips if a lie can be made to answer. 
They are in all respects, as nearly as I can 
describe them, veritable demons, who spare 
neither age nor sex, w^ho respect no law, and 
w^hose chief delight is to murder, burn and 
ravage. 

The little occurrence mentioned above oc- 
curred in April, '76, and I hunted there until 
the fall without any further molestation from 
the red devils. They remembered our long 
range repeating rifles for a long time after- 
ward. 

While here a large band of Ute Indians 
came into our neighborhood on a permit to 
hunt thirty days, and for the benefit of my 
readers, I will now describe, as well as I can, 
their manner of hunting and killing buflalo. 

(7) 



50 THE ADVENTURES OF 

They first select their place for a camp, 
generally near some stream convenient to fuel 
and water. As soon as the place is chosen 
the squaws set to work unpacking the goods 
and chattels and putting up the tents — the 
squaws do all the drudgery — and making things 
comfortable. Besides the work mentioned 
above they must care for the horses, get fuel 
and water, in fact do all the drudgery, while 
the men roll on the grass in the shade and 
smoke their pipes at their ease. When the 
camp is all in order one Indian is sent out to find 
a herd of buffalo, and as soon as he discovers 
one he returns to camp and reports. Then 
the women get the horses, and the men and 
boys mount their ponies and ride for the herd. 
The women follow, driving the pack-horses, 
and taking their knives to dress the game 
that the men kill. 

A band of Indians mounted and equipped 
for a buffalo chase presents a verv unique ap- 
pearance. Their ponies are scrawny looking 
little things, and many are so small, and the 
rider so large, that his feet nearly reaches the 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 5 I 

o-rouiid. Notwithstanding his size and ap- 
pearance, there is no discount on the pony ; 
he makes up in grit and endurance what he 
lacks in size, and will carry a rider or a heavy 
pack farther in a day than an ordinary horse. 
The Indian's saddle is a mechanical curiosity. 
It is made with two forked sticks, one behind 
and one before, held apart by two pieces of 
board, one on either side, and have straps of 
buckskin running lengthwise. The boards 
which hold the forked sticks apart are on the 
bottom, and rest on the horse's back, while the 
buckskin straps are on top, and form a soft 
seat for the rider. Though this saddle is easy 
on the rider, it is frequently severe on the pony, 
the boards frequently being left naked, and I 
have seen ponies so lacerated by them that 
the back-bone in places was left perfectly 
bare. But an Indian has no mercy for his 
horse any more than he has for his squaw, and 
so long as he can ride along easily he cares 
not w^hether his pony is suffering, and will 
even beat him for flinching and ^'giving down" 
under one of these barbarous saddles. They 



52 THE ADVENTURES OF 

depend a great deal on ceremonies for 
''good luck" in killing game, and the 
performance of these rites is almost as much 
of a sight, to a person not accustomed to their 
ways, as a good circus. As soon as they get 
as- close to a herd as they dare, they dismount 
and begin their ceremonies, which consist of 
an immense amount of foolishness. The white 
man, when he starts lor a herd goes right up 
and commences killing, but the Indian must 
stop and go through the rites that have been 
handed down to him from time immemor- 
ial. They get down on their knees 
and repeat several ceremonies. They talk 
to the buffalo and tell them not to 
run away as they will give them some 
tobacco, of which each Indian buries a small 
piece in the ground ; they pull their horses' 
tails, "whisper in their ears, and tie eagle 
feathers in their tails to make them swift. 
Frequently they kill a dog and eat it. All 
this, and a great deal more that I have not time 
or space to mention, is done that good luck 
may attend their chase. The ceremonies con- 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD* 53 

eluded, they mount their ponies and ride rap- 
idly to the herd, which, if not disturbed by the 
powow, is quietly grazing on the prairie. As 
soon as the buffalo discover their foe they take 
the alarm, and very frequently rush in a mass 
directly toward them, but, when within a 
short distance, they suddenly whirl and dash 
bellowing in the opposite direction. 

The turning ol the buffaloes is the signal 
for the attack, and then the Indians, 
with the wildest of yells imaginable, dash upon 
them with their guns, spears, bows and arrows 
and commence the slaughter. Those w^th 
guns ride to one side of the fleeing herd, and, 
keeping parallel to them, load and fire as fast 
as they can, bringing down a buffalo at almost 
every shot ; while those with spears, and other 
weapons of a like sort, rush into the herd and 
riding almost against one thrust the weapon 
almost through it in the most vital part. The 
Indians with bow^s and arrows ride into the 
herd as do the spearmen, and leaving the pony 
to take his way, use both hands shooting 
arrows into first one and then another. Their 



54 I'HE ADVENTURES OF' 

arrows are often tipped with pieces of sa\v- 
blade, on the edges of which is cut a fine 
beard, which causes them to work inw^ard as 
the animal runs. They shoot three or four 
arrows into one buffalo, and then single out 
another, and, the arrows working in, they soon 
fall and die. This slaughter is kept up until 
quite frequently every one of the herd is killed. 
In the hunt which I saw, they killed a hundred 
and ten in less than fifteen minutes. 

As soon as the killing is over the squawks 
dress the meat and pack it on the horses, 
while the men and boys take a rest and 
a smoke, and laugh and talk of the ex- 
ploits of each other during the chase. 
When the game is dressed the men inount 
their horses and ride joyfully toward camp, 
while the squaws follow driving the pack 
horses laden with the flesh and hides. 

Though the Indians use the bearded tips on 
their arrows in hunting, they use an entirely 
entirely different one in lighting. They have 
some way by which they poison them, so that 
they cause almost certain death, or, at least, a 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 55 

very Ugly sore. Just how they poison them 
I am not able to say from actual knowledge, 
but persons who have been much among them 
tell me that to do it they take a piece of fresh 
meat, and, making a rattlesnake angry, let it 
bite the meat and inject its venom into it. 
The meat is then left to putrefy, by which 
time it is thoroughh' permeated with the 
poison, and the arrows are then poiso;ied by 
sticking them into the poisoned meat. These 
poisoned arrows are carefulh^ kept separate 
Irom those to be used in hunting. 

They frequentl}- fight among themselves, 
and more of them are killed in this way 
than by white men. They exhibit terrible 
ferocity and unrelenting cruelty in their wars 
with each other, and those they take pris- 
oners are always put to the torture. 

A friend of mine named Van Meter related 
to me the particulars of a torture which he 
witnessed while among the Ogallah-Sioux 
Indians. 

A band of Ogallahs had been out one 
day and had a little skirmish with a squad of 



56 THE ADVENTURES OF 

the Crows, and came in with one prisoner. 
He was a warrior about twenty, and arrange- 
ments were soon made to put him to the 
torture. He w^as stripped and tied firmly to 
a wagon wheel. Next, a large pine plank 
was shaved into splinters. Then one was 
selected to apply the torture, and the rest 
prepared to execute the war-dance around 
him. The one selected to torture him took 
a knife, and taking up a piece of his flesh 
between his fingers plunged the knife through 
it, then thrust into the wound a bunch of the 
pine splinters, which were then set on fire and 
allowed to burn out. As soon as one bunch 
of splinters died out, another was inserted in 
a fresh gash as before. The process was kept 
up until the skin was crisped all over the body. 
Notwithstanding the agony he must have suf- 
fered, he never murmured nor gave any other 
signs of pain, but appeared more unconcerned 
than most people would to simply witness 
such torture. During the whole time the 
torture was going on the Indians danced 
around their victim in the most wierd and un- 



CHARLES L. YOUNGELOOD. 57 

earthly manner, motioning as if they would 
strike him with their tomahawks or spears, 
and uttering the most fiendish yells and cries. 
When his skin was burnt to a crisp all over 
him, and he was nearly dead, he was toma- 
hawked and scalped. This, though horrible, is 
of frequent occurrence among the Indians. In 
this respect they are even more cruel toward 
each other than tow^ard the whites. 



C^) 



58 THE ADVENTURES OF 



CHAPTER VII. 

A CHANGE A NIGHT WITH THE WOLVES 

BLACK-TAILED DCER FEROCIOUS ANIMALS 

BACK TO THE PLAINS. 

Not long after the occurrences mentioned 
in the preceeding chapter I moved about a 
liundred miles south, on what is called Silver 
Lake. I was compelled to leave on account ol^ 
the Indians chasing all the buffalo out. They 
chase them on horseback, and drive them 
sometimes as far as two hundred miles. 

Silver Lake is situated near the head of 
Pawnee River,between this stream and '^ White 
Woman" Creek, in a large cane-brake. The 
reader may perhaps smile at some of the queer 
names aoplied to streams and such other nat- 
ural objects. A great many were named by 
the Indians, who always name them from 
some occurrence of the locality, or from some 
other similar suggestion. 

''White Woman" Creek derives Its name 
from a rather sad occurrence, which I will 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. • 59 

relate. A widow named Harn was several 
years ago taken captive by the Indians and 
carried away prisoner. On their journey they 
camped for the night on the bank of this creek, 
and before they left the next morning they 
drove a large stake through her body and left 
her ; hence the name. By some it is called 
^'Suffering Woman." I notice that in a pub- 
lished account of a fight, which Colonel Lewis 
had with the Indians on this creek, three years 
a^o, in which fiorht Lewis and five of his men 
were killed, it is called "Spanish Woman," 
but all frontiersmen call it "White Woman." 
Between "White Woman" Creek and Paw- 
nee River is a large tract of very low, flat 
country, covered in many places by large 
lakes and dense cane-brakes. The one on 
which I camped was the Silver Lake, before 
mentioned. When I came to this place, 
brought no one with me, and consequently was 
all alone in the midst of a broad lonely swamp, 
my only company being buffalo and antelope 
by day and wolves by night, and the latter, 
especially, were more famiharthan agreeable. 



6o . THE ADVENTURES OF 

I remember tliat one day I went out and kille 
a buffalo, and moved my wagon near it. As 
it was late in the evening, and the way to camp 
hard to find, I determined to stay out all 
night. So I made my bed on the ground, and 
spread the skin of the buffalo over me with the 
wooly side down. I had hardly fallen asleep, 
when the wolves, attracted by the smell of the 
buffalo, began gathering from the thickets. 
They soon devoured the buffalo, and began to 
venture near enough to pull and tug at the 
hide, which I was using for a quilt, and try to 
take it away from me. My gun was in the 
wagon, and I did not dare to get up to get it 
for fear they might make a meal of me. I 
managed to keep them frightened away until 
finally they left. The wolves in this section 
subsist chiefly on the carcasses of buffalo left 
by hunters, who kill them for their hides, and 
as no hunters had been in the locality for some- 
time the wolves were very hungry, and would 
sometimes even attack men or horses. 

I remained in this place about a month, and 
had fair success in killing buffalo, but had very 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 6 1 

little market for the meat. I soon fell in with 
a man by the name of Fred Armstrong, who 
said he w^as a "regular world beater" at killing 
butfalo and deer. He urged me to go into the 
mountains with him to kill black-tailed deer. 
He told me he had just come from there, and 
that the mountains were covered with them. 
It was about two hundred miles, but I tinally 
consented, and one morning, bright and early, 
we started. Our road lay through a strip of 
country w^here game was very scarce, and, as 
we started with only a small supply which 
we soon exhausted, we got very hungry. 
Finally, one day Armstrong said he was going 
to shoot a calf, since cattle were so plentiful 
and game so scarce, and took up his gun to 
shoot a yearhng that happened to be separated 
from the herd. Just then three cow-boys rode 
up. This made Armstrong look a little v^^ild. 
He said, '"Lord, God; I'm glad I didn't shoot, 
for they would have been on us before the 
calf could get done kicking." But the cow- 
boys never knew his intentions, and it was 
well for him that they did not. As it \Vas 



62 THE ADVENTURES OF 

they rode along with us to a spring, near 
which they said there was plenty ol deer. 

We camped for the night by the spring, and 
in the morning I took my gun and went out 
to see if I could get some of them. Before I 
had gone a quarter of a mile, I saw plenty of 
tracks and began to keep a lookout for the 
deer. I walked cautiously up a hill, and when 
near the the top peered over and had the sat- 
isfaction of seeing four walking single file along 
a cow path. I aimed at the leader, which was 
a fine doe, and at the crack of the gun she 
sunk to the ground. Two more shots brought 
down two more deer. The fourth was a large 
buck and came running up to the bluff to near 
where I stood, but I was ready for him too, 
and wound up his career in a twinkling. I 
then went in and got a horse, and, putting three 
of the deer on him, led him along toward 
camp. On the way I met Armstroug, who 
looked a little surprised, and said, "Hello! If 
that is the way you are going to do, I will have 
to take back what I said about being a 'world 
beater'" We hunted too^ether about two 



CHARLES L. YOirNGBLOOD. 63 

months, and as I averaged killing about six 
deer- to his one I ceased to look upon him as 
a "world beater.'' After we had hunted there 
a tew weeks a man came to our camp to sec 
us. One day during his visit he was in con- 
versation with Armstrong and asked him what 
kind of a hunter I was. Armstrong said I was 
a poor shot, but the luckiest killer he ever saw. 
Shortly afterward he came to me and asked 
me "what for a hunter" Armstrong was. I 
told him that Armstrong was a very good 
hunter but was just about the poorest killer I 
ever was acquainted with. He broke out in 
a hearty laugh, and then told me what Arm- 
strong had said about me. 

We had not been there long when we dis- 
covered that there were animals in the locality 
other than deer, especially mountain lions and 
panthers. These animals will generally be 
found in almost all places frequented by deer, 
on which they chiefly subsist. They climb 
a tree which has a limb extending over a path 
used by the deer, or conceal themselves 
behind something near the path, and as the 



6^ THE ADVENTVRES 0¥' 

deer pass along under or near them, they 
spring upon it and kill it. They are particu- 
la;ly fond of the blood, and commonly tear the 
throat ol their victim and drink it as it flows- 
warm from the veins. They also eat the flesh 
and can carry ofl* a full-grown deer. I was 
killing deer one day and w^ounded one,, 
but as I was following it I discovered a large 
drove of them, and concluded to let the 
wounded one go and get some of the drove, 
intending to come back and get it later. I 
did not get to come back until the next morn- 
ing, and, taking up the trail where I had left 
it ofl^ the day before, followed it but a short 
distance, when I came to where the ground 
gave unmistakable evidences of a struggle. 
After an examination I w^as convinced that 
the the wounded deer had been attacked and 
carried oflf by some animal or other. Anxious 
to know more of it I followed the trail, which 
was not at all hard to trace, as the hair of the 
deer had been rubbed ofl* on the stones and the 
fresh stains of blood were easy to see. I had 
followed the trail about a half a mile when I 



CHARLES L, VOUNGBLOOO-. 65 

found the entrails of the deer lying on the 
ground. The entrails were not torn to pieces, 
but, on the the contrary, were entire, and 
looked as though some skillful hunter had 
taken them out with a knife. This greatly 
surprised me and I began to look cau- 
tiously around to see if I could discover what 
it w^as, when, within about twenty paces of 
where I stood, a mountain lion suddenly raised 
up from the ground and, before I had time to 
shoot, darted into a thick clump of bushes. 
However I managed to lire just as it dis- 
appeared, but must have missed it. I was 
afraid to follow it into the thicket, and ran up 
on a cliff near by to shoot it as it passed out on 
the other side. But in this I was disappointed 
as it did not show itself. I waited lor some 
time hoping to be able to get a fair shot at 
it, but its stomach was well filled off the 
deer, and I suppose it lay down in the thicket 
and went to sleep for the day, at any rate, I 
never saw 't again. The panthers were 
even more numerous aod more dangerous than 
the mountain lions, and when we had fresh 



66 THE ADVENTURES OF 

meat in the camp they would yell all around 
us the whole night. Their yells make a per-, 
son unused to it not a little uneasy, but one soon 
gets accustomed to it, and in a few nights 
pays no more attention to it, than the people 
in Indiana do to the hooting of the night 
owl. 

I remained here hunting until the snow 
began to melt in the mountains, when the deer 
left me. The black-tailed deer lives in the 
mountains, except when they are covered with 
snow. Then they live on the prairie and in 
the valleys at the foot of the mountains, and 
*s I did not care to follow them into the moun- 
tains, I concluded to go back on the plains, 
and again try my luck on the buffalo. 




CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 67 



CHAPTER VIII. 

m KANSAS AGAIN— NOT A HAPPY FAMILY 

A THIEF NOT IN LUCK EMIGRANTS ON A 

HUNT MORE INDIANS. 

When I lelt off deer hunting, I went back 
about two hundred miles east on the Arkansas 
River, not far from the head of Pawnee River, 
in BuAalo County, Kansas. Here I hired 
three men to go with me to haul the meat to 
market. I could kill all the buffalo I wished 
to, but the trouble had been for'me to get it 
to market. For this reason I hired these three 
nien — one of whom had a good team — to go 
with me. They were no hunters, but they 
suited me all the better for that. 

We to^k up our headquarters on Alkah 
Lake, and we had been out but a short 
time when it became evident that my men 
were not destined to dwell together in peace 
and harmony, and I soon saw unmistakable 
symtoms of a disruption. Two seemed to 
have some kind of pique at the other, and were 



68 THE ADVENTURES OF 

continually imposing upon him, and w^ere tak- 
ing advantage of every occasion to taunt and 
insult him. However, a Lttle incident oc- 
curred which prevented any shedding of blood,, 
although the one so crowed over had several 
times threatened to kill the other two, and had 
even asked me to loan hiixk my gun, and had 
suppHed himself with cartridges for the pur- 
pose, and had not this little occurrence which I 
ain about to relate transpired, I think he 
would have attempted their destruction. 

We were out one day and I struck a large 
herd of buffalo, and fearing that as I was likely 
to have to take some violent exercise, my 
pocket-book might work out of my pocket 
and get lost, I handed it to the teamster to 
hold for me while I was killing buffalo. He 
said he would do so — I have never seen him 
or the pocket-book since — and I ^vent after the 
herd. As soon as I was fairly out of sight he 
jumped into his wagon and drove off. When 
I returned to camp in the evening and found 
him missing, I saw through the whole affair. 
I told the two men left that the fellow had 



CHARLES L. YOUXGBLOOD. 69 

robbed me and related the circumstance to 
them, and they asked me to hitch my team to 
the wagon and let them go after him. I 
finally consented and took them to the nearest 
railway station, and they, guessing the course 
he was most likely to take, boarded the first 
train and headed him off. They captured him 
without difficulty and took him to Las Animas, 
in Colorado. Here they took him before a 
justice, and one of them made oath that he had 
stolen the team from them— although it was 
|-,ig own— and proved it by the other. The 
magistrate remanded him to jail, and turned 
his team and wagon and my pocket-book over 
to his captors, which they brought back with 
them. The would-be thief lay in jail until 
court set, when he was released, there being 
no one to appear against him. Nevertheless, 
it must be allowed that he paid rather dear 
for his venture. What the other two did with 
the team I can not say, as I lost sight of them 
almost immediately afterward. I remained 
here a few days, and went in to Sherlock with 
a load of meat. There were a great many 



'JO VHR ADVENTURES OF 

emigrants there, most of them had good teams 
and some were anxious to go out on a hunt. 
I told them I would give them half the meat 
for hauling it in, and there was no trouble in 
finding persons ready to accept my offer. 
They mustered up three teams and we started 
out with ten men and three women, all inspired 
with eager anticipation of something outside 
of their usual line of life. ^We went out about 
twenty-five miles and camped for the night. 
While the men were preparing for the night 
and the women getting supper I went and 
killed a very large buffalo. They almost went 
into ecstasies over it, and it was not long until 
we had several nice slices of the tenderloin 
fried and ready for distribution. 

We moved on the next day, as the women 
complained of the water, which was alkali, 
and started to a good spring which was about 
ten miles farther on. When we reached the 
spring we discovered a band of Indians camped 
near it. As soon as they saw us they picked 
up and lek iVz'v meat roasting on the fire. 
We moved on to the spring, but I could hardly 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 7 1 

get my folks to stay long enough to get a drink, 
they were so much afraid that the Indians 
would return and kill and scalp us all. They 
wheeled their teams about and started for 
Sherlock in a sweeping trot, and looking back 
every few minutes expecting to see an army of 
painted demons after them thirsting for go^e 
and hankering for scalps. "O! what will we 
do if they do come?" the}' would say. 
^^Kill 'em," I replied laconically, for I was 
vexed at their useless fright and did not exert 
myself very much to pacify them. Howeve % 
we reached Sherlock in safety, and terminated 
the expedition without the loss of a single 
man, or woman either. 

A short time after this I took a man with 
me went to my old hunting ground — the 
source of the Pawnee River. One day 
as we were driving along the bed of 
the river where the bluffs rose moderately 
high on either side, I looked down and saw a 
group of something which I took to be a herd 
of buffalo that had come in for water. I 
jumped from the wagon and ran down the 



72 'J'HE ADVENTURES OF 

draw toward them. I could only see the top ot 
their humps, and I thought they were comirig 
toward me. I ran on, and, all at once, I ran 
into a gang of squaws taking care of their 
horses. I then knew what my buffaloes w^ere. 
The}^ were Indians crawling up a small ridge 
which pointed down to the draw where I 
was. I saw that I was in a close place and 
got out as soon as I could. When I got back 
to the wagon and told him that what I took 
to be buffaloes were Indians, he looked 
frio'htened and asked if I thouo^ht there was 
an}^ danger of them coming after us. I re- 
plied that if they did we could kill as many of 
them as they could of us. This seemed to 
be rather poor consolation to him, and he said 
that he could not see how that would comfort 
a dead man. While yet talking of the Indians 
I saw a herd of buffalo come in sight. We 
killed four and caught one calf We then 
loaded our meat in the wagon and took it to 
to Pierceville, the nearest station. Here we 
found a company of soldiers looking for the 
Indians I had seen the day before. 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 73 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE WAY SOLDIERS CHASE INDIANS DRESS 

PARADE A GREENY CATCHES A BUFFALO 

CALF ''HELP ME TO LET IT GO." 

The soldiers mentioned in the preceding 
chapter had received a dispatch that eighty 
Indians had crossed the K. & P. railroad, near 
Monument station, evidently bent on mischief, 
and w^ere ordered to overhaul them. They 
WGTG commanded by Captain Payne, who 
asked me if I saw them. I answered that I 
had. 

''When?" asked he. 
"This morning." 
"Where were they?" 
"Out near the head of Pawnee River." 
"Will you go with us to find them?" 
"Do you w^ant to take them some blankets ? " 
"No, by G — d ; we do not. We have some 
pills lor them, and if you are a good hand to 
prescribe them you can have a chonce. Can 
vou go? " 

(10) 



74 THE ADVENTURES OF 

*'I can ; but I am tired of going after 
Indians under officers that won't let us hurt 
them, when we do go." 

''Just try me once." 

"Well, if you will promise to take no pris- 
oners I will go, but if you want to take 
prisoners, count me out." 

The Captain laughed and said ''all right." 
He then ordered the men to mount. The 
word was soon given and we started, and 
within four hours were at the place where I 
saw the red skins. They were gone, but their 
camp bore evidence of having been deserted 
only an hour or so before. The trail showed 
that they had gone down the bed of the Paw- 
nee River. The sun was then about two 
hours high, and we might easily have made 
ten or twelve more miles before dark, but the 
captain after looking around a few moments 
said, ''Well, we will camp here to-night," 
which was equivalent to saying, ''Well, we 
will give them a good chance to get away." 

It was ten o'clock the next morning before 
we were ready to start. Then the captain 



CHAKI.es L. YOUNGBLOOn. 75 

brought his men out on dress parade, very 
much in the same style as if he were prepar- 
ing to move on Richmond. He had a train 
of four six-horse teams, an ambulance and a 
surgeon. The latter, however, he was not 
likely to need, unless some of his men should 
get hurt on dress p:arade. 

We marched down the river a few miles 
when we found it necessary to cross. Here 
we wasted four hours in digging the banks ot 
the river down so we could get the wagons 
across. We had proceeded but a short dis- 
tance after crossing the river when we struck 
a place which the captain thought would make 
a good place to camp. Here he ordered a 
halt, and said we would lay over the rest of 
the day as we might not find so good a place 
to camp as this. The next morning we 
came out on dress parade, and about ten 
o'clock resumed our march. We went about 
twenty miles down the river, and crossed back 
at the mouth of what is called Buckner 
Creek. On this creek we struck a beaver 
dam, above which the water was about eight 



76 THE ADVENTURES OF 

feet deep. One of the soldiers dismounted, 
threw out a fi^h Hne and soon took a line fish. 
This caused quite an excitement, and the 
captain said we would have a mess of fish. 
We turned our horses out and remained here 
until noon the next day, when, after going 
through the customary dress parade, we 
started lor Fort Dodge, which we reached 
Vv'ithout the loss of a man, and without finding 
any use for the surgeon or the ambulance. 
Here I received my discharge — I had put in 
four days — and went back to PiercevUle. 
This Indian chase is a fair sample of the man- 
ner in which the government troops out here 
hunt Indians. One old hunter is worth a 
dozen soldiers in an Indian chase an}' time. 

When I orot back to Pierceville one ol mv 
horses had been snake bitten and was not lit 
for use, but, as there were plenty of emigrants 
passing through, I found one whom I hired to 
take his team and go with me. He was about 
fifty years old, and had never seen a buffalo. 
Everything was new to him, and he saw 
many wondrous sights. We camped the 



CHARLES 1.. YOUNGBLOOl). 77 

first night on the head of Pawnee River, and 
the next morning started north to what is 
called Hackberry Creek, and in the evening 
near sun-down my companion suddenly said, 
"Laws! Look there." As he was a taller 
man than I was, he had the advantage of me 
in looking over the hill. I rose up in the 
wagon, and was not a Httle surprised myself 
to see a herd of about two thousand buffalo 
just over the hill and within gun shot. They 
were grazing quietly and had not discovered 
us. Taking my gun I slipped to the to top of 
the hill, and fired several times, killing two. 
After dressing one I went to the other, which 
was a cow, and lay about a hundred yards 
from the first. Her calf had lain down near 
her, and I told him to slip up behind the cow 
and catch it. "All right," said he, "and when 
I catch it, you must come up and help me." 
I told him that I would do so, and he got 
down on his hands and knees and crawled up 
close to the dead cow, but the calf saw him 
and getting up walked around the cow^ toward 
him. By this time I could plainly see that 



78 'I'HE ADVENTURES OF 

there was going to be some fun in that vicinity 
in a short time, and patiently awaited develop- 
ments. I did not have to wait long. As the 
calf came around the cow he lay as flat on 
the ground as he could, expecting to catch it 
as soon as it came within reach, but, contrary 
to his expectations, when within about eight 
feet of him, it suddenly sprang upon him, and 
began goring and trampling him in a lively 
manner. As the calf was not large enough 
to seriously injure him, I remained a spectator 
and allowed them to flght it out unmolested, 
and even if I had desired to help him, I could 
not have done anything for laughing. After 
a little struggle and a good deal of bellowing 
for help, he managed to get on his teet and 
run. The calf followed him about a dozen 
feet, and then turned and again lay down by 
the cow. As soon as I could get through 
laughing, 1 went to work and we soon had 
the calf secured. 

The next morning we went on trail ol the 
herd, and about ten o'clock we came up with 
them going West toward Silver Lake, whicl- 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 70 

was about twenty miles distant. We 
followed them with the wagon until two 
o'clock in the afternoon without being able to 
overtake them. The man with me began to 
despair and say '^ We won't get any of them." 
I told him if he would allow me to get on a 
good saddle horse he had with him, and let me 
manage it to suit myself, we would get plenty 
of them. He said he wanted us to get a good 
load of meat, and told me to take him. I 
mounted the horse and told him to follow 
slowly, so as not to frighten the buffalo, and 
galloped off toward the herd. I rode pretty 
brisk until I got ahead of them and picketed 
the horse, and, getting right in their course, 
lay down and waited. I did not fire until 
they were within thirty yards and opened on 
them with good effect. -By the time my 
partner drove up I had ten killed. ^^Well, 
bless my life," said he, *'that beats anything 
I ever did see." When we got them dressed 
they made a good load, and we started for 
Pierceville, reaching there about daylight, 
having travelled all night. 



H) I'HE ADVENTURES OF 



CHAPTER X. 



UNSUCCESSFUL HUNTERS DANGERS OF THE 

PLAINS IN MISSOURI AGAIN. 

At Pierce ville, I sold a large portion of 
my meat to the emigrants, but some of them 
would not buy, and said they were going out 
and kill their own meat. They began to fix 
up their guns preparator}/ to slaughtering all 
the buffalo on the plains. I told them that it 
looked very much as it I had just as well give 
up hunting, as they seemed to be going to kill 
all the game. They said for me just to wait 
until they came in, and then I could joke if I 
felt like it. I advised them to take teams 
enough with them to bring in the meat and 
not leave so much to rot on the plains. Four 
of them, each w^ith a pack horse, started in 
the direction from which I had come, but did 
not succeed in finding any meat. About this 
time they began to want water, but, not 
knowing where to look for it, could not find 
any. I had started out shortly after they did 



CHAKLIiS L. YOUNGBI.OOD. 8 1 

and went to Alkali I.ake, fifteen miles from 
the head of Pawnee River, and as I was 
driving alonp- near Dry Lake, I looked in the 
basin of the lake and saw a squad of men, 
about a mile off. They saw me about the 
same time and hoisted the signal of distress. 
As I did not halt they came hurrying toward 
me, waving their hats and calling to me to 
stop. When they were near enough they 
asked me if I had any water with me, as they 
were almost dying from thirst, not having 
seen a drop of water for three days. Several 
of their horses had given out, and they had 
been digging with their knives for water in 
the bed of Dry Lake. J pointed to a hill 
ubout a quarter of a mile off, and asked them 
why they did not go to a spring at t^ e foot of 
the hill and get all the water they wanted. 
They wanted me to take them to the spring, 
which I did, and it was not long before they 
were swallowing cool, sparkling water by 
the quantity. They were really nearly starved 
to death, and I believe if I had not come alonc^ 

and helped them out they would have died 

(11) 



b2 i'HE ADVIiN'i'L'RES OF 

within h;iU d mile of water. Men who are 
unacquaiatecl v-ith the phiins hav^e no business 
on them without a pilot. There are springs 
that nev^er go chy, but a person who did n;)t 
know their location might die within a few 
steps oi one. There are many persons 
Irom the East who go out on the plains with- 
out a guide, and, not being acquainted with 
the lay of the land, suffer exceedingly' for 
want of water, and some times even die from 
thirst. Besides this, mosc emigrants, and per 
sons from the East, who go out (,n the plains 
for butfalo, come armed with squirrel rifles 
and shot-guns, and if thav were to find ever 
SD many buflalo it would be almost impossible 
t«) kill them. True they might occasional! v 
get one with the squirrel gun, but it ^vould be 
a rare occurrence, and a man might work 
with a shot-gun a year and then not get a 
buflalo. 

It any of my readers ever conclude to take 
a buflalo hunt on the plains, they need not 
start out by themselves with a rusty shot-gun, 
and I would advise they to employ a pilot. 



CHAI'JLICS L. VOrXGIil.OOl). St, 

even if they have to pay him live dollars a 
(lay. A good pilot is indispensible for several 
reasons. In the first place, a novice, not 
knowing where to look or how to hunt, might 
wander over the plains tor weeks and never 
see a buffalo, and even if he should find them, 
the chances are, that il' left to himself, he would 
not be able to kill any. Another reason is the 
danger of suffering or even dying for water, 
for, while there are springs here that afford a 
barrel of water per minute, they are not so 
numerous, nor so conspicuously located as to 
make one at all liable to run into them. 

When I returned to Pierceville I concluded 
to go to Missouri and spend a few Aveeks 
with niy lamily. I reache^d home on the 13th 
day of June, 1876, and remained there until 
October, *when, in company A\nth my oldest 
son and a man nar_:ed Baker, I started in a 
wagon for the plains again. 



84 'I'HE ADVENTURES OP' 

CHAPTER XL 

ON THE PLAINS A GANG OF BADGARS 

WOLVES SCARED BY INDIANS THE HORSE 

AS A PICKCT GUARD SNOW BOUND, ETC. 

When we left Missouri we struck for the 
Pawnee River — my old haunt, as the reader 
by this time has doubtless discovered — and 
after fourteen day's driving, reached our des- 
tination in safety. We concluded to take up 
our headquarters on Clear Lake, and when 
within a few miles of the lake I saw a solitary 
buffalo helping himself to the grass. As soon 
as he saw us he took fright and ran. I had a 
pony along, which I had taken in a fight with 
the Cheyennes. So I mounted him and went 
in pursuit. The pony was used to it and soon 
crowded the buffalo so close that he turned for 
a fight, but I shot him down before he got 
too close, and was dressing him when they 
drove up with the wagon. It was quite a won- 
der to them, being the first buffalo they had 
ever seen. 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOI). 85 

One evening when we had stopped near 
Silver Lake, and camped in a small branch for 
the night. Baker, who happened to walk out a 
few steps from the camp, called me and said 
*'Oh! look over there ; what a gang of bad- 
gers/' I went to him to investigate the badger 
business, and saw that it was a herd of buffalo 
just over the hill, with the tips of their humps 
just visible. I ran back and seized my gun 
and, slipping to the top of the hill, succeeded in 
killing twelve. These when dressed made us 
a good load, which we took to Sherlock and 
shipped. We then took up our abode on 
Alkali Lake. I left Baker to make a dug-out 
— a house dug in the bank of a branch or the 
brink of a hill — and went out about lour miles 
where I found a dead buffalo with a number 
of wolves gathered about it. Wolf skins 
were bringing lair prices, and I told my son 
that we would put some strychnine in the 
carcass and camp close by and see the result. 
The next morning we went to see the effect 
of the poison, and found thirteen dead wolves. 
We skmned them and started to camp for the 



86 VllE Al)Vl<:X'iT RES OF 

wagon. We had gone but a short distance 
when we stuck a hirge herd of bulTalo coming 
toward us on a run. I ran out and lay down 
directly in their course, but held my lire until 
they were within tw^enty paces when I opened 
and lired about twenty shots while they were 
passing, but only succeeded in killing six. 
My boy w^as terribly frightened while they 
were passing, as from where he stood it looked 
as if they were running right over me, as he 
could not see me lying in the grass, and it was 
not until I began firing and the smoke raised, 
that he was undeceived. We dressed the 
butFalo I had killed and again started to camp. 
As we were croing- alon •• mv son looked off to 
the left and said, ''Yonder is, a man on horse- 
back." He was coming toward us, and when 
he was a little closer I saw that it was an 
Indian. When I told my boy what it was 
he began to cry and say he wished he hadn't 
come, and so on. By this time several more 
appeared insight, w^hich frightened him all the 
more. I told him not to get scared, and. 
bninmno: mv o-un from mv shoulder ordered 



(IfARLES I-. VOUNGBI.OOI). 87 

the ibfLMiiost of tiicm t;) halt, which he did. 
i asked him what tribe he belonged to and he 
answered ''Oiiiaha/' I told him not to come 
any closer, and he stood there naming over 
several articles and jabbering generally. I 
then asked him how many there were of them 
and he said there were thirty, which was near 
the truth, as I could see about that number. 
He asked in turn how many there were of us 
and I told him eight. Me was directly be- 
tween us and our camp, and I did not want 
It i 111 there, so [ told him to turn to the left as 
some of the boys might want to shoot him if 
they saw him. lie turned and went around, 
carefully watching for ''the boys," but without 
seeing them. I only wanted him out oi my 
vvay, so we could get back to camp. 

They pitched their teepes on a hill about a 
mile from our camp, as though they were 
going to stay all night. As it was earlier in 
the day than usual to prepare for camping for 
the night, and as the place they selected was 
on a hill instead of near water, it aroused our 
suspicions and we began preparations for de- 



88 rHK A I) VENTURES OF 

fense. Their camping on the hill seemed 
very much as if they wanted to watch our 
camp. We expected that about day-break 
they would make an attack on us. As a 
precaution I picketed a horse on a knoll about 
a hundreds yards from camp to warn us 
before they were upon us, if they should 
come. The horse is about the best guard 
against surprise by Indians, being much su- 
perior in that respect to a dog. A dog makes 
too much noise entirely, while the horse only 
snorts at most, besides the horse does not 
sleep as much nor as soundly as the dog, and 
seldom allows himself to be surprised. If 
Indians are approaching no matter how slyly 
he is sure to discover it, and lets you know it 
by restlessness and uneasiness, loud sniffing 
or snorting. 

We passed the night without any visit from 
the red skins. Our horse never showed any 
signs of alarm, but we watched him very 
closely until about nine o'clock in the morn- 
ing. It was a very foggy morning and it was 
about ten o'clock before the fog cleared up 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 89 

SO we could see. As soon as I could see I 
went out on a knoll and looked carefully in 
every direction, but could discover no trace 
ot any Indians. Going back to camp I got 
my gun ;ind some amnunition, and myself and 
my son went up on the hill, where the Indians 
had pitched their teepee the day before, and 
tound that they had left. I examined closely 
to see which way they went, and soon dis- 
covered their trail leading toward White 
Woman Creek. I afterward learned that while 
on their way they came very nearly getting 
another fellow. He lived in a dugout, and 
was getting his supper when he saw them 
rushing toward him. He tried to make them 
stop, but as they paid no attention, he slammed 
the door shut and made it fast. The red skins 
gathered around the door and bei^an to try to 
burst it in. As the door was not exceedingly 
strong, and the man inside thought he was 
sure to be killed any way, he began tiring 
through the door at the Indians and brought 
several ot them down. They soon gave up 
their plan of going through the door as a bad 

(12) 



90 THE ADVENTURES OF 

job, and some of them got on the tup ot the 
house and began shooting down through, but 
they were no more successful here than at 
the door. The Indians will not fight if they 
can not do so without losing men. I heard 
the old chief of the Ogaliahs say that it did 
not pay to give man for man, and that he 
wouldn't do it. One resolute and experienced 
man can hold fifty Indians at bay, if he has a 
good position and manages it correctly. These 
red skins, finding that they could not get their 
man without considerable loss, finally moved 
back about a half mile and stationed themselves 
on a small hill to watch the dug-out, that he 
might not escape before dark, when they would 
make another attack, and take him in. But, 
as soon as it began to get dark, he crept out 
and made his escape, but ran a very narrow^ 
risk. Although this poor fellow escaped from 
the Indians, he was soon overtaken by a worse 
fate, if a worse fate than falling into the hands 
of the red devils is possible. He and his two 
partners were out hunting and v/ere caught in 
a snow storm and frozen to death, and their 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 9I 

bodies nearly e iten up by wolv^es before they 
were discovered. 

A short time after this niyseh' and my son 
went out one morning and got after two buf- 
falo cows, and followed them about twelve 
miles before we got them. We were then 
within about six miles of Silver Lake, and 
started for that point. It suddenl}' began to 
turn fiercely cold, and I began to expect a 
blizzard, so we hurried on toward the lake 
and our camp, and when about a mile from our 
halting place, and the sun almost down and 
the cold increasing, I saw, about a mile and a 
half to my left, a very large herd of buffalo. 
I think there must have been two thousand of 
.them, and 1 was anxious to get at them, but 
as it was so frightfully cold and night was fast 
coming on, I told my boy we would go down 
to the spring and w^ait until morning, and then 
we would try what we could do for them. 
About the time we lay down for the night I 
noticed a very black cloud hanging In the 
north, but we made extensive speculations on 
the number of buffalo we were to get the 



92 THE ADVEX'lUKES OF 

next morning, but when we waked up we 
found the snow fully a foot deep, and 
the air piercing cold, and the snow still falling. 
The air was bitterly cold and I proposed to lie 
still until the storm was over, but my boy 
soon became tired r.nd got up to kindle a hre. 
In this he failed and soon commenced crying 
because of the cold, and I was compelled ""o 
get up and make a lire myself, which I suc- 
ceeded in accomplishing after considerable 
trouble. Our horses could not be found, as 
they had gone off in search of shelter from the 
storm, and Jimmy vvas crying to go to Sher- 
lock, a distance of thirteen miles, so I was in 
a rather queer position. I was almost afraid 
to start to wade the snow to Sherlock, but 
finally consented to try and make the trip. 
When we got started we found it even colder 
and more difficult traveling than we had ex- 
pected. The snow was drifting everywhere 
and the wind was blowing fiercely, driving 
the snow through our clothing, and while the 
heat from our bodies melted it, the piercing 
cold froze our clothino- stiff, and besides, walk- 



CHARLES L. YOUNGB LO()l>. 93 

ins: throiisfh . the snow knee deep was very 
tati "uinof and wearisome. It was several 
hours before we succeeded in getting to the 
station, and when we entered a hotel a women 
met us at the door and asked if we were not 
frozen. I told her that we were all right and 
tor her to prepare us something to eat. After 
we had eaten, she asked if I did not get very 
cold. I told her that I was colder then than 
I had been any time during the da}'. She 
then pointed to a red hot stove and told me I 
had better sit down near it and warm myself, 
I was not slow to act on her suggestion and 
soon had my feet almost against the glowing- 
stove. I had not sat long until I discovered 
that there was something wrong with my feet. 
They hrst felt numb, but in a few moments 
they began to ache, and in a short time pained 
me so much that I could scarcely stand it. I 
went to bed leaving my socks on, but suffered 
so much with my feet that I could not sleep 
any, and the next morning my feet were 
almost perfectly blat'k and swelled frightfully, 
and covered with blisters. There was no 



94 



THE ADVENTURES OF 



longer any mistake about the matter ; ni}' ieet 
were badl}^ *frozen, so mueh so that I eould 
not walk for more than seven months. At 
the end of twenty days my feet showed strong 
symtoms of mortification, and I was put on a 
train and taken to Fort Dodge, a distance of 
sixty miles, for medical treatment. Here I 
employed a physician to attend me for two 
dollars a day. He burned otf the dead flesh 
and scraped the buoe, and at the end of seven 
months I was able to walk a little, but was 
lame for a lonof time. 






CHARLES L. YOUNGBI.OOD. 95 



CHAPTER XII. 

ON THE PLAINS ONCE MORE PLENTY OF GAME 

LV A BAD FIX HE COULDN'T STAND THE 

INDIANS NOR LIGHTNING EITHER. 

As SOON as I was able I went to Sherlock 
and again started to hunting. I was scarcely 
able to walk, and would drive as near the herd 
as I dared and then o-et out of the wa^^on and 
crawl up within range. 

Leaving Sherlock we (my son and myself) 
went west about twenty miles and, crosssing 
the Arkansas River, went south about thirty 
miles to Cimarron Creek, and, after following 
this stream about ten miles, I struck a big- 
herd of buffalo. J succeeded in kliliug three, 
and we thought we would go in with them. 

We went about ten miles on the road to the 
station and camped for the night. When we 
got up in the morning m}^ boy went out after 
the horses, and had gone but a short distance 
when he whistled for me to look around, when 
I did so and saw^ a laree herd of buffalo. 



()6 THE ADVENTURES OF 

I took my gun, and, going out, lay clown in 
their course, and when they were close enough 
I tired and killed one. The others gathered 
around it and kept bellowing, and I kept tiring 
until I got nine. We dressed them and again 
started on, but only made about iiv-e miles 
that day, and again stopped for the night, and 
the next morning, when we got up we found 
one of the horses dead. I sent my son in after 
a team, and he succeeded in finding one of my 
old partners who was glad to help me out of 
a scrape, and he came right out and hauled 
my meat- in for me, 

I bought another horse immediately and 
was again after butialo, this time about forty 
miles back on Cimarron Creek. We camped 
the first night in the bed of a dry lake, and 
slept in the wagon. In the morning when I 
raised up I saw a herd of something about two 
miles off, but could not tell whether they were 
buffaloes or not, and asked my boy if he could 
make them out. He began rubbing his eyes, 
and, happening to turn his head in the opposite 
direction, saw a herd of buffalo about a quarter 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 97 

of a mile wide and lully a mile long, bearing 
right toward us, and nearly upon us. He called 
my attention to them as soon as possible, and 
by the time I could get my gun they were 
within twenty paces of us. We could- dis- 
tinctly feel rhe ground tremble as they gal- 
loped past, and during the time they were 
passing I put in good time shooting, and when 
they had gone by I had a good load, so we 
dressed them and again went in. 

My boy then went back to Missouri, and I 
hired a man by the name of George Daniels 
for thirty dollars a month to go with me, but 
he only stayed three weeks, when the Indians 
scared him out, and he could not be persuaded 
to stay any longer. I sent him out one morn- 
ing after the horses, and, when about a quar- 
ter of a mile from camp, he discovered a 
a couple of Indians making a charge on him. 
He came almost flying toward camp, scream- 
ing for help at every jump. I ran out to see 
what could be the matter, and the reds were 
right after him, but I persuaded them to stop, 
and he came up breathless from frio^ht and 

(13) 



98 THE ADVENTURES OF 

violent exercise. He thought that such ad- 
ventures were frightful, and said he wouldn't 
stay for five hundred dollars a month. I told 
him that such little brushes were nothing 
when one got used to it. "But,'- he replied, 
"I would never get used to such. Why, here 
are snakes, lightning skunks, centipedes, tar- 
antulas and Indians." I tried to console and 
reassure him, by telling him that if he wasn't 
born to be killed by an Indian he never would 
be, and if he was he couldn't escape it anyhow. 
But he said, "Born or not born, they would 
have gotten me if it hadn't been for you." 
I told him that unless it was God's will he 
would not have allowed them to hurt him, but 
he said he would rather depend upon me than 
God when the Indians were after him. But 
he was such a coward that I could not get any 
satisfaction from him, and I verily believe that 
his cowardice made his life a misery to him. 
It would be hard to find anything that he was 
not afraid of One day as we were driving 
along we saw some antelopes near, and he 
asked me to let him take my gun and kill one. 



CMARLi:S L. YOUNGBLOOD. 99 

There were plent}^ of antelope but I seldom 
tried to kill any, but he wanted to kill some- 
thing, and I told him he could try. He was 
slipping along toward them very slyly, when, 
all at once, he turned and came running toward 
the wao^on as hard as he could. When he 
came up I asked him w^hat the matter was, 
and he said, "Didn't you see it lightning? 1 
don't want any steel in my hands when it is 
lightning. Why, I have jerked many a knife 
out of my pocket and thrown it away on that 
account." I laughed and told him that if he 
wasn't careful he would get killed before his 
time yet. He didn't stay any longer, and as 
we got in to the station he went east, and I hired 
a fellow by the name of George Johnson,^jWho 
was, if any difference, a bigger coward than 
Daniels. He stayed with me about twenty 
days, when he happened to an accident that 
caused him to leave. It happened in this 
wise : We had taken a load of meat in to the 
station, and were selling it out to the emigrants, 
of which there were a large number. Johnson 
struck up an acquaintance with some of them 



lOO THE ADVENTURES OF 

and v/as showing out to some yoUng ladies, 
boasting of killing butfalo, riding wild horses 
and a great many things that he never did. 
While he was telling them how well 
he could ride, one of them said, ''La, 
I wish you would ride one of Pa's horses. 
He throws nearly everybody off that tries 
to ride him." 

Johnson said he could ride anything, he 
didn't care what it was, and some of 
the men saddled the horse and brought 
him out to Johnson By the time things 
were in readiness for the show to begin, quite 
a crowd of folks of all ages, sizes and sexes 
had assembled to watch developments and to 
see the fun, and the wonderful feats of horse- 
manship. Johnson climbed into the saddle 
and told them to let the horse go. They did 
so, and he began to rear and plunge in a fear- 
ful manner, and after a few jumps changed to 
the old trick of bucking and kicking. All at 
once he jumped suddenly and stiffly on his 
fore legs, threw his head down to the ground 
and kicked as higfh as he could. This was too 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. lOI 

much for the great horseman, and he went 
over the horse's head, with his arms, legs and 
lingers spread out for something to get hold 
of. As he went over, the seat of his pants 
caught on the horn of the saddle, and he left 
it behind him. He struck the ground on 
his all-fours, and, looking for the horse 
to be right on him, scrambled off on 
his hands and knees as fast as he could 
with that part of him, which, in a beef, 
is called the best steak, shining like a 
porcelain door-knob. He crawled along in 
this way for some distance, when finally he 
ventured to look back, and, seeing that the 
horse was not after him, he raised to his feet, 
and, gathering the back part of his pants in 
both hands, slunk away. It is hardly necessary 
to state that he did not come back to see the 
girls who saw him ride any more. He called 
on me the next morning and asked for his pay, 
and said he was going to leave the country, 
as he would never here the last of his ride if 
he stayed, and could never look into the faces 



02 



rHK ADVENTURES OF 



of the young ladies again. I told him not to 
mind it as the horse had thrown everybody 
that had tried to ride him. "But," he said, 
''they never had their breeches torn off as I 
had mine. It's no use to talk ; I won't stay." 
Being thoroughly convinced that I could not 
prevail on him to remain any longer with me, I 
paid him off and he went away, and I had to 
look out for somebody to take his place. 




CHARLES L. YOUXGBLOOD. Iv\3 

CHAPTER XIII. 

WILD HORSES THIRSTY AND HUNGRY 

WATER AT LAST BONES ON THE PLALNS 

THE RESULT OF STRONGHEADEDNESS. 

After Johnson left me I ran across two 
young men by the name of Stanfield and 
formed a partnership with them. At that time 
there were a great many wild horses in that 
vicinity, and we concluded to try our luck 
after them. So we started out and soon struck 
a large drove, I think about seventy-five. 
They were going west, and, ps we had had 
no experience in that particular line of hunt- 
ing, we did not have any idea how far they 
were likely to go, but followed them as closely 
as we could, intending to get back that night, 
but instead followed them about one hundred 
and forty miles. As we had not intended any 
such chase, we had made no preparations 
for it and did not take any provisions with us, 
and were compelled to do entirely without 
food. I tasted no water at all on the first and 



I04 THE ADVENTURES OF 

second days, and on the third day I came to a 
dry branch and got off my horse and began 
scratching in the mud for water. While thus 
engaged my horse jerked loose Irom me and 
started off across the prairie. I started after 
him, but he was soon out of my sight and I 
was left afoot and alone, having gotten sep- 
arated from the others the day before. I was 
so thirsty that I tried chewing grass, and so 
weak that I could hardly walk. I gave up 
the chase and turned my whole attention to 
trying to get out of the scrape, and was doing 
my best to find water, but was so faint and 
weak that I could only make a short distance 
before having to stop and rest. I was drag- 
ging myself along in this manner when 1 saw 
a drove of wild horses ahead of me and com- 
ing nearly toward me. They kept looking 
back as if at something behind them, and I 
soon saw two men following them, and I be- 
gan to make very emphatic signs for them to 
come to me. As soon as they saw me they 
came up to me and asked me what was the 
matter, but my tongue and throat were so 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 105 

dry and parched that I could not speak. It 
was one of the Stanlield boys and a man 
named Reece. They had no water but gave 
me some dried apples to chew, to create a 
flow of saHva to moisten my mouth, but it did 
no good. Stanfield then took me on the horse 
behind him and hurried ofl" with me to a spring 
about ten miles away. It took us over an hour 
to get there, and I was very careful not to 
drink too much at once, but took about a pint 
and after waiting a few minutes, another, con- 
tinuing in this manner until I knew there was 
no danger. It took a prodigious quantity to 
satisfy me, and it was two or three days before 
I got over my thirst. The horse that broke 
away from me died for want of water. 

Many a man has gone out on the plains as 
1 did, and died from thirst and hunger, or 
cold, and it is no uncommon thing to find their 
bones strewn over the ground where they 
have so perished. I have found many myself 
whose death doubtless came about in this way. 
I found one skeleton, the owner of which, had 
certainly frozen, as he had burned his wao^on 

(14) 



Io6 1'HE ADVENTURES OF 

;ind even his gun stock. He had died but 
recently, but the wolves had mangled his body 
beyond all possibility of recognition. Another 
A\ hose bones I discovered had a bullet hole in 
his head, and, judging from the position of his 
gun, had evidently shot himself to put an end 
to his sutferings. Still another had his cloak 
\vrapped about him, and had probably frozen 
or died from hunger and cold together, as there 
were no marks of violence on the body. 
These are only a few of the many instances I 
might mention, but of course a great many 
of the skeletons were those of Indians, but I 
could not distinguish them from those of 
whites. It is enough to know that they per- 
ished alone on the plains, and what their suf- 
ferings were no one knows. 

My readers will see that it is much the safer 
plan, when persons are unacquainted, with the 
plains go out on them, to emply a good guide, 
and even then it will not do to take every one 
that offers himself, as there are plenty who 
profess to be acquainted with the country that 
know nothing about it, and a person v/ould be 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. I(^'7 

as well off without them. I have helped 
several men out of bad scrapes that they had 
Si-otten into by trusting poor pilots, and would 
recommend everyone to be careful to get one 
that understands his business. 

I remember once when I was hunting neai- 
Lakin Station, on the Atchison and Topekii 
railroad, and while there a couple of men asked 
me to pilot them across the country to the 
south of the Arkansas River. We soon struck 
a bargain and set out. I took a saddle horse 
with me, and they had a good team of mules. 
We traveled about twenty miles the first day, 
and camped at night on a small lake where 
there was plenty of water, and, when ready 
to start the next morning, I told them that 
they had better take some water along, as it 
was nearly twenty-five miles to the next water 
on our route. They had a barrel in the wagon, 
and I wanted them to put some water in it, 
but they said they. could stand it, and besides 
the water would soon get warm and unfit to 
drink anyway. So they contented themselves 
with drinking as much as they could, and 



I08 THE ADVENTURES OF 

announced themselves ready to start, doubt- 
less under the impression that would not get 
thirsty any more that day. But in this way 
they were sadly mistaken, lor, as it was a 
very hot day, and we were compelled to travel 
in the broiling sun, about eleven o'clock they 
began to want a drink, and would drive out 
of the way to examine old dry lakes in the 
hope of finding water. I told them that they 
were only losing time and that the nearest 
water was the lake I had spoken of, and that 
we would get water sooner by driving directly 
there, instead of wasting time in exploring 
dry lake beds. They finally got angry and 
told me that I did not know what I was doino- 
and that they knew more about the country 
than I did, and that there was no water within 
forty miles of us. They got so incorrigible 
that I told them that they might go to a 
warmer country for all I cared and rode off 
and left them. When I had gotten off a short 
distance, I looked back to see if they were 
following, but I saw that they had turned to 
go back to Lakin. It was only about twenty 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. I09 

miles in a direct line and about thirty-tive the 
way we had come, but to go directly there 
one must pass through a range of sand hills, 
which it is almost impossible to cross. They 
were in a hurry to get back, and thinking that 
they knew all about the country, took the 
direct line and ran straight into the sand hills, 
and, after traveling all that night and the next 
day, came out of the sand hills about thirty 
miles from the place they intended to strike. 
Here, however, they found water, but their 
mules had given out before they got through 
the hills, and they had left the wagon and 
walked the rest of the way, leading their 
mules, and when they had rested they gave a 
pilot five dollars a day to go back with them 
after the wagon, and all from thinking that 
they knew more than their guide. 



no ihp: adventures of 

CHAPTER XIV. 

NEW YORKERS ON A HUNT NOT SO VERY 

DEAD NEW GAME A REGULAR CHASE 

AFTER WILD HORSES. 

About the liveliest buft>lo hunt that I ever 
experienced happened in this way : A couple 
of New Yorkers went out west on business, 
and having a few days of spare time con- 
cluded that they wanted to take a buffalo chase. 
They had never seen a buffalo, but wanted to 
very badly, and they thought they would like 
to kill a few dozen too. So one day, after 
they had been talking to the landlord about 
wanting to go after buffalo, he said he would 
see me, as he thought I would go with them. 
He accordingly came to me and asked what 
I would charge to go. I asked him how they 
wanted to go, and told him if they proposed 
to go on foot that I would rather be excused. 
He said that if they went they would take a 
two-horse carriage, and I agreed to go as 
pilot for three dollars a day, and in a few 



CllARLKS L. YOUNGBLOOD. Ill 

moments all arrangements were completed 
and we were on our way, the landlord join- 
ing us. 

Crossnig the Arkansas River, we went 
about thirty miles south that evening, and 
camped for the night near the north fork of 
Cimarron River, and the next day, after driv- 
ing about twenty miles, we struck game. We 
attacked a big herd and had a lively time with 
them for a while, and when the buffalo left 
the field we noticed four lying on the ground 
dead, or supposed to be so. When w^e ap- 
proached them, one was lying on his back, 
and Potter, the landlord, remarked that we 
had ''o-iven that one h — 1," but a little closer 
examination show^ed no blood, and further, the 
animal w^as breathing rather lively for a dead 
buffalo, and I rightly conjectured that he had 
been knocked into the ditch by the others and 
had been unable to get out, and I took the 
precaution to observe him from a point a few 
ieet away, for I was expecting him to make a 
mighty effort and come out in a way that 
would make it unsafe to be too near him, and 



112 THE ADVENTURES OF 

I was right. Scarce a minute had elapsad, 
when, summoning all his strength he floun- 
dered, plungged and finally gained his feet 
and mad made quite a scatterment among his 
captors, who, however, recovered from their 
surprise in time to perforate him with bullets, 
and make him safely dead. During the racket 
the herd stampeded, and the horses becoming 
frightened mixed with them, and ran about 
three miles before they got clear and stopped. 
When the horses were brought back. Potter 
proposed ihat we make another dash on 
them, but I objected, as we already had more 
meat than we could take back with us 
and I did not like to see it wasted. He said 
he wanted to see one of the New Yorkers kill 
one anyhow, and the two went again after the 
herd, w^hich by this time had begun to get 
together again, and in about for hours came 
back with thirty-six buflfalo tongues. It an- 
gered me to see such a useless waste of meat, 
hut they were proud of their achievement and 
didn't care for me. The two New Yorkers 
were enjoyed, and one of them said that he 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOn. II3 

wouldn't take a thousand dollars for his sport. 
By they the time they returned I had the four 
we had killed dressed, and we loaded up and 
went back having been three days. 

While out on this three days trip we saw a 
great many wild horses, and happened to be 
speaking of them to a bystander named Boslen, 
who he began to get considerably interested, 
and finally asked me what I would charge 
to catch some for him. I answered by saying 
that I did not have a sufficient number of 
saddle horses for such a chase. He said that 
he had plenty, and inquired how many I would 
need, and proposed to furnish the saddle 
horses and as many men as I wanted if I 
would go, and offered me five dollars a day. 
I told him that I did not wish to hire in that 
way, for I might fail to catch any, and he 
might perhaps think I did not try, but said if 
he would be at all the expense and furnish me 
six saddle horses and two good hands, and 
give me five dollars a head for all I could 
catch I would go, to which he readily agreed, 
and we closed the bargain forthwith. I then 

(15) 



r 



114 THE ADVENTURES OF 

chose six horses from his stable and we 
made preparations for the chase, and were 
soon on our way. We found several herds 
before we struck one that suited us. The herd 
we finally concluded to capture one that 1 had 
seen a great many times when I was out after 
buffalo, and I was well acquainted with their 
range. We went as close them as we dared 
and after carefully examining them by the aid 
of field glasses, my employer, Boslen, said 
that they would do. The next thing to do 
was to fix the camp as near the centre of their 
range as possible, as wild horses, when chased, 
seldom or never leave their range, though this 
may somtimes contain hundreds of square 
miles, and it is necessary to know the range 
and place the camp near the centre, in order 
that fresh horses horses for the chasers may 
be ready any time they happen to pass near 
the camp. I told Boslen where to fix the 
camp and announced my intention of starting 
the herd early the next morning. The point 
I selected for our base of operations was an 
old and well-known camping place on Cimar- 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBT.OOD. II5 

ron River, about thirty miles west of where 
we then were. This I chose as the most 
suitable place because it was near the centre 
of the range of our game, and because there 
was plenty of good water there, whereas in 
most places the lakes had nearly gone dry 
and what little water that was left was going. 
So next morning Boslen and the two men 
started to the camping place, and I started for 
the wild horses. I was mounted on a good 
horse and rode up to the herd. When I was 
within about a half mile of them they saw me, 
and while some would elevate their heads and 
watch me very, while others would 
stick their tails straight up into the air, and 
taking a long, high trot would circle around 
among the others and snort. But I rode on, 
and the whole herd finally began to circle 
around me snorting, and occasionally one 
would stop to get a better look at me, and after 
satisfying himself would snort loudly and move 
on with the rest. I sat perfectly still on my 
horse and waited for them to move off, which, 
after makiug a half dozen circles, they did, 



Il6 THE ADVENTURES OF 

going west toward the place where I had told 
Boslen to fix our headquarters. When they 
struck out I followed them as fast as I could, 
but could only keep in sight and had a good 
horse to ride too. Shortly after they started 
they struck a wagon road called the Doby 
Wall Trail, and following it passed close to 
our headquarters, where I wanted to change 
horses, but I knew that the others were not 
there yet and I followed on. My plan was to 
chase them down and capture the whole 
herd. We might have chased them awhile 
and then dashed into them and lassoed a few, 
but I concluded to keep up the chase until 
they were chased down. As the wild horse 
gets tired he gets less wild, and by having 
suitable headquarters so that one can change 
his horse without giving them much rest, the 
whole herd can be caught. 

This herd passed near our proposed camp 
and went on west to the line between Kansas 
and Colorado, here they turned to the south 
and kept this course until they struck the south 
fork of Cimarron River, when they turned 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. II7 

east, passinty our camp again again, this time 
on the south. I took advantage of this oppor- 
tunity to change horses, and was again alter 
them with more vigor than before. They went 
on east near the place where I started them. 
Here I saw two men who had been lost two 
days, and could not find their way out, as the 
sky was cloudy, and they could not keep th^ir 
course. They said they were nearly starved 
and w^ould like something to eat. On the 
frontier it is customary to divide, as long as you 
have any thing to divide, and I gave them a 
biscuit apiece, half of what I had, told them 
which way to go, and went on after my horses 
The herd did not seem disposed to go any 
where near the camp, but played back and 
forth across the country between Wild Horse 
and White lakes. This did not suit me, as 
my nag was getting fagged and I was afraid 
I would have to go all the wa}^ to camp to 
change. This I did not like to do, as it would 
give them a chance to rest, and I would con- 
sequently lose nearly, or quite, all I had accom- 
plished in two days hard work. However, as 



Il8 VHE ADVENTURES OF 

good luck would have it, I ran across a cow- 
boy, and gave him five dollars to go to camp 
and tell them to meet me with a fresh horse 
on the old Santa Fe trail, and I was again in 
pursuit of my horses. They were getting tired, 
and almost directly after I left the cowboy 
they struck out nearly toward camp, and I 
stayed within ten miles of the camp that night, 
and the next morning very early I started to 
intercept the men who were to bring the horse, 
and struck the Santa Fe trail just in the nick 
of time. There I got a fresh horse and some 
grub, and as soon as possible was chasing my 
wild horses. I found them near the place 
where I had left them, and most of them were 
lying down. They have wonderful en- 
durance, which the reader will perhaps under- 
stand when I state that that night one of the 
mares gave birth to a colt which traveled with 
the rest all the next day, until about an hour 
by sun in the evening, when I halted for the 
night, knowing that the herd would stay there 
with the colt. By this tin:ie I had them so 
worried and cowed that they grazed all around 



CHARLES L. VOUNGBLOOD. II9 

me in the night, and when I waked the next 
morning, they were nearly all lying down, 
stretched out like dead. When I started them 
they moved off very slowly, being very stitl 
and sore, in a westerly direction, and I fol- 
lowed them again into Colorado, when the}' 
took nearly the same route as before, turning 
south and then east and coming back into 
Kansas, and when I again stopped for the 
night I was within about a half mile of camp, 
but it was cloudy and so dark that I could not 
see the camp, though I knew I was near it, 
but was surprised when I waked up in the 
morning to find myself so much nearer 
than I expected. I found the boys all 
asleep, but soon waked them up and got a 
fresh horse and more grub and went back to 
see about the herd. This time I took one of 
the men with me to take care of the colt 
when it should give down, which I knew 
would not be long. 

When I started the horses this morning 
they were so tired and stiff, as to be nearly 
docile and I was able to drive them nearly as 






I20 THE ADVENTURES OF 

I chose. So ] drove them about to suit my- 
self that day, and at night had them back near 
camp. We turned the colt out with them, 
and I told Boslen that we would start tor 
Lakin Station with them the next morning, 
but when morning came I concluded to drive 
them around before we undertook to drive 
them in, and when we did start in with them 
we took a direct line for the station, and 
crossed the sand hills. We were two days v 

crossing them, during which time the horses 
got no water at all, but as soon as we were 
over them we struck a lake and they drank to 
repletion, from the effects of which eight of 
them died, and I lost forty dollars. We then 
drove them about twelve miles to a cow 
corrall, where we corralled them, closed them 
in, and drove them across the river to Lakin, 
safely housing the twenty-lour head. 



\ 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 121 



CHAPTER XV. 

AFTER WILD HORSES AGAIN INDIANS A 

BIG DRIVE A CLOSE BRUSH WITH INDIAS. 

My good luck in this chase inspired me to 
try it again. I wrote to Missouri for my son 
and son-in-law to come out and help me, and 
in the meantime I allowed the saddle horses 
to rest and recuperate. They arrived in a few 
days and we started out, again south of the 
Arkansas River. When we arrived in the 
region of Wild Horse Lake, we found that it 
had rained very heavily, and the lakes were 
all full, so I told the boys to estabhsh the camp 
about ten miles west of Wild Horse Lake, and 
I started a drove of seventy-two horses. I 
drove them twelve days, but at the end of that 
time found that we were nearly out of pro- 
visions, and told the boys that one of them must 
go back to the station tor more. While he 
was preparing to start I discovered a herd of 
buffalo, and told them to put the horses to 

(16) 



122 THE ADVENTURES OF 

the wagon and I would get a load of meat for 
them to take in with them. As we were 
going out after the buffalo, I discovered a band 
of Indians about three miles off* and coming 
toward us. My son was just starting to get 
a young antelope that he saw, and I beckoned 
for him to come up, as I did not know whether 
the Indians were friendly or not, and wanted 
to be ready in case of an emergency. When 
he came up I showed them the Indians, and 
told them that it was possible that we might 
have to light, and for them to keep cool and 
not get excited. I told them to get all the 
ammunition together and I would go out 
toward them and find out how the land lay. 
I went a few hundred yards toward them, and 
took a position where I could watch their 
movements. They came down into the creek 
bottom, which was about a mile wide, and 
were out of my sight for some time, and in 
the interim I changed my position so that I 
could see them as soon as they emerged from 
the bottom. When they again came in sight 
the}^ were about half a mile from me, and 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. I 23 

seemed amazed at seeing us. They halted 
and gathered in a close groop, and seemed to 
be holding a consultation. I signalled to learn 
what tribe they belonged to, but they paid 
no attention to me. I then signalled to knov 
if they were friendly and what they wanted, 
but received no reply. I then went back to 
the wagon and told the boys that they meant 
no good, and ordered the ammunition placed 
where it would be most convenient. By the 
time we had things in readiness, the Indians 
had formed and were ready to make a dash 
on us. As soon as they started I lay dov, n 
and levelled my gun to drop the foremost, but 
he saw my intention, and, whirling his horse 
about, dashed back. The next followed him, 
and the next in like manner, until the whole 
band were out of range, when they again 
stopped and held another council. I stood up 
on the wagon to watch them, and saw that 
they were preparing to surround us. The hill 
was in the shape of a half circle, and their plan 
was to go around the back of it, where we 
could not see them until they got around. So 



124 ^^^ ADVENTURES OF 

I told the boys to get ready and get to the top 
of the hill as fast as they could, as the Indians 
meant to surround us, and we must get to the 
top to intercept them. I sprang on the sad- 
dle horse and left them to come up with the 
wagon, and dashed to the top of the hill, 
where I could see the whole game of the 
Indians. They were coming around the hill 
stationing one of their number about every 
hundred yards, and would have been all 
around us in a few moments. I sprang from 
my horse and crawled up where I could see 
over the crest of the hill and could have picked 
one off every shot. But they saw me and 
knew that they were beaten, and whirled sud- 
denly around, and, lying flat on their horses, 
beat a hasty retreat, and did not stop until 
entirely out of sight. We did not leave that 
night, but picketed our horses and remained 
until morning, for I knew that they would not 
attack us any mo.re that night, though the 
boys thought sure that we would get our hair 
lifted before daylight. The boys were afraid 
to go in by themselves in the morning and I 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOU. 125 

had to go in with them, and, after Laying in a 
good supply of provisions, we started out again 
to gee what had become of my wild horses. 
We found them without any difficulty, and 1 
again started them. Th's time I followed 
them, with several little ups and downs, for 
fifteen days, at the end of which time they 
were docile enough that I could drive them 
almost as I chose. 

Thinking that they were about ready to 
drive in, I drove them near the camp one even- 
ing, and then next morning got one of the bovs 
to help me and we started them toward the 
station. I had had a long chase and mv 
saddle horses were considerably jaded, and 
when within about thirty-live miles of the 
station, I found it necessary to o^o in and o-et 
some fresh horses. So I left the boys to 
manage as well as they could and mounted 
the freshest horse, and procuring three fresh 
horses, hastened back and found them just a 
Httle nearer than when I had left them. We 
had good luck until we attemped to corral 1 
them, to get them across the river. They 



126 THE ADVENTURES OF 

were afraid to go in the corrall and we could 
not persuade them in any way to do so, and 
we finally gave it up and swam them over the 
river. I w^as a little afraid of the experiment, 
but it worked all right, and I drove sixty-nine 
head of horses into the station the next day. 
This was a good haul, but catching wild horses 
is not by any means desirable work, and does 
not pay as well as one would suppose, as it is 
a long, hard job to capture a herd, and they 
are generally small and scrawny at that, and 
sell at almost nothing. 

This was my last wild horse chase for the 
season, as it suited me much better to hunt 
buffalo than run wild horses, and I got a con- 
tract to furnish meat for the hotels and went 
out after buffalo. 

I hired a man by the name of Black to go 
with me, but the Indians were so troublesome 
that he only remained with me a few days, 
and I hunted by myself. I established my 
camp on the Pawnee River, right on the old 
Indian trail, and went to work to get some 
meat. The first night I stayed alone I began 



CHARLES I.. YOUNGBLOOD. I 27 

to have fears of the Indians, and during the 
night this fear grew upon me so much that it 
was impossible for me to dismiss them from 
my mind. I did not sleep at all that night, 
and the next morning I was up bright and 
early preparing to shift my quarters. I went 
back from the river about three miles on the 
flats, but still on the trail. I stopped here but 
a short time, as I did not feel much safer than 
where I was, and hitched up again and drove 
to the top of a hill about a mile and a half 
farther on. Here I halted and looked around 
to see what I could see, and discovered some- 
thing moving toward me a couple of miles to 
the northeast. I at first thought they were 
buffalo, but in a moment I saw that they did 
not move like buffalo. While watching them 
they went out of sight and soon reappeared 
again, which satisfied me that they were not 
buffalo. When they were nearer me I saw 
that they were men, and mounted, and I then 
knew that they were Indians moving right 
toward me, and I began to make preparations 
to give them a warm reception. 



128 THE AnVKNTURES OE 

The most suitable spot for a light that I 
could see was an elevated place about a quar- 
ter of a mile to my left. Here I posted my- 
self and commenced filling my empty car- 
tridges. The Indians were fast getting nearer 
and it seemed to me that I never made as 
slow progress in filling cartridges before, and 
yet I v^as working as lor dear life. However, 
there were onl)^ six of the red skins, and I 
knew that with anything like a fair show I 
could take care of myself. When they were 
about two hundred yards olf, I rose to my feet 
and waved my frying pan toward them, and 
no sooner did they see it than they raised the 
yell and dashed toward me. I motioned to 
them to stop, but they paid no heed and came 
dashing on. I dropped on one knee and 
resting my elbow on the other levelled my 
gun at the foremost. At this they whirled 
with their horses sideways to me and turned 
their saddles on the farther side and kept 
themselves where I could not see them at all. 
As they hung on the farther side of their 
horses they would occasionally peep over their 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 1 29 

horse's withers to see what I was doing and 
watching for a chance to rush upon me un- 
awares. In this relative position we remained 
lor some minutes, when they sHd off their 
horses on the opposite side, taking care to 
keep their bodies protected by their ponies, 
but watching me intently all the while. Still 
holding my gun in position to cover any one 
of them in an instant, I asked them what tribe 
they belonged to, but they only answered 
'^Yah." I said '^Shriam," but they still an- 
swered '*Yah." Again I asked, '^Are you 
Ogallahs, Arrapahoes, Utes, or what ? " but 
still they answered as before. I then took my 
gun from my face, but still held it in a position 
to do quick shooting, when they began to 
separate and move to the right and left, evi- 
dently intending to surround me. I motioned 
to them with my gun, to stay together, when 
they made signs to the effect that they wanted 
something to eat. I was afraid that this was 
only a trick to get me off my guard, but I 
moved cautiously toward the wagon, at the 
same time watching them very narrowly, to 

(16) 



130 THE ADVENTURES OF 

catch any suspicious movement on their part. 
Scarcely had I started toward the wagon than 
one of them made a rush toward me, but I was 
watching him, and turning suddenly around 
stopped him effectually. The last act of his 
life was to cover his face with his hands and 
cry out "ow, ow, ow." I then motioned for 
the rest to come to him, so that I would have 
them close together and could cover them 
easily with my gun. They came forward, 
leaving their guns hanging on their saddles, in 
pretence of friendship. When within about 
about fifteen paces I ordered them to halt, 
which they did, but expressed a desire to shake 
hands with me, and kept saying '^How, how, 
how." I found it rather a delicate affair to 
manage, as they could, if they chose, have 
taken me in, but they were sure that some of 
them would pay the penalty with their lives, 
and they did not care to make an open 
attack, and wanted to get me at a disadvan- 
tage, and, while I could have readily shot 
one or more of them down, I was afraid to do 
so, because I did not know what effect it would 



CHARLES I.. YOUNGBLOOD. 131 

have on the rest. It might so frighten them 

as to make them leave in a hurry, but it might 

exasperate them and cause them to rush right 

upon me and overpower me, which they 

could easily do should they take a notion to 

do so. It was the most trying time I ever 

experienced, and I held them in this manner 

for more than an hour, when they gave up the 

hope of getting to shake hands with me, and 

began to try to steal back to their guns, but 

when one would make a move toward his 

horse I would instantly cover him and order 

him back into the squad. My attention was 

called to one who acted as if he did not know 

I was anywhere near, and was doing his best 

to assume a careless air, and seemed to be 

carelessly twirling a lariot which he held in 

his hand. After swinging it round a while, he 

arrarently let it loose accidentally, and one end 

of it fell almost at my feet. After letting it lie 

for a moment he began winding it up, but 

instead of drawing the rope toward him, he 

was following it tow.vrd me as he wound •;r 

v.py but I understood his plan, and stopped > -s 



132 THE ADVENTURES OF 

game and his existence about the same time. 
I then brought my gun to bear on the rest 
who sprang on their horses and hurried away. 
I watched them until they disappeared about 
two miles off. 

The same day that 1 had a brush with the 
Indians, the same band ran across a man 
named Matthews, and two men who were 
driving a herd of cattle, and by appearing very 
friendly succeeded in throwing the men off 
their guard. They approached them in a 
friendly manner, and, after shaking hands with 
them, called for something to eat — an Indian 
is always hungry — and partook liberally. But 
they were only watching for an opportunity, 
and no sooner did it appear than the}' shot two 
of them down. Matthews sprang on his horse 
and dashed away in time to save his life, but 
was badly wounded in the shoulder by a shot 
sent after him as he was fleeing for his life. 
This will show my readers how treacherous 
is the red man of the forest, and how little confi- 
dence can be placed in his professions of sincere 
friendship. I never saw one yet that it was 



CHAK1.es, L. YOT.JNGBLOOU, I33 

safe to trust, and I believe that my suspicions 
in this direction have several times saved my 
life. I have seen but very few Indians that 
were not dangerous and they were dead. 

Immediately after this I went across to 
Silver Lake to join an old hunter who was 
camped there, as I did not like to be alone 
while the Indians were so troublesome. Be- 
sides, he was, as I have said, an old hunter, 
and in a scrimmage with red skins his equal 
was hard to find. Many an Indian had dropped 
at the crack of his rifle and he was well known 
among them, and was as universally feared as 
he was known. With him, and ten minutes 
notice, we could have made it warm for any 
number of reds likely to attack us, but when 
I came to his camp, I found that he had gone 
in to the station and I was compelled to stay by 
myself at last, with the Indians passing nearly 
every day. However, I continued hunting 
for sometime without molestation from them, 
but succeeded in getting into some scrapes 
not much more agreeable than an Indian 
fight. 



134 '"'^^K ADVENTURES OF 

One day when I was out huntinof the 
weather became cloudy and a cold rain set in 
which lasted two days and nights, completely 
soaking my blankets and chilling me nearly to 
death. Finally the clouds broke away and the 
rain ceased, and I went out for game. After 
going about four miles J saw two very large 
buffalo, and, slipping as close as I dared, shot 
one as it lay, and, while the other was exam- 
ining it to see what ailed it, brought it down 
too. The weather was still cold for October, 
and it had clouded over again and was be- 
ginning to snow. I turned out my team and 
dressed the animals I had killed and, laying 
them with their backs nearly together, spread 
my blankets over them. I spread the green 
hides over that with the hairy side down, and 
then crawled in between the hides and blank- 
ets and lay there until the snow storm was 
over, Vv^hich was two days, only coming out 
occasionally to get something to eat. While 
\ying there the buffalo came all around me, 
and w^hen it cleared away I got out and began 
to scatter them. I killed two and after dvf -^ 



CHARJLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. I 33 

ing them I put the four into the wagon. B\' 
this time the snow was mehing rapidly and it 
was late in the evening. I drove over to the 
place where I had camped during the rain 
storm. I discovered when I arrived that a 
band of Indians had camped there during the 
snow storm and had but recent)}^ left. It wavS. 
a narrow^ escape, but as the old saying goes 
'*• a miss is as good as a mile," and I did not 
get frightened after the danger was all over. 
This spring was a noted camping place, being- 
right on a much used Indian trail, and Avas 
used by white men as well as red skins. I 
thought I might find some game farther on 
and drove several on several miles, but, not 
finding anything, concluded to drive in with 
what I had. As I passed the spring on mv 
return I saw a squad of red skins camped 
there again, but, as I had no occasion to stop, 
passed by, within half a mile of them. If 
I had been as thirsty then as I have been 
many times, I most certainly should have 
stopped, but the snow was melting and I could 
get all the water I wanted without fightino- 



136 THE ADVENTURES OF 

tor it. When I was about a mile from their 
camp, I saw three buffalo lying with :heir 
backs toward me, but I did not know whether 
to kill them or not, as I already had four, and 
besides, the Indians had not yet seen me, aid 
t'' e report of my gun might rouse them and 
get them after me, but the tempt ition was too 
strong, and driving as near as I dared I took 
my gun and began to slip along toward them. 
When I was about close enough I looked to 
the left and saw three Indians stealing up on 
the buffalo that I was. They had not dis- 
covered me and I stopped and was watching 
them, but in a short time they discovered me. 
I straightened up and we stood for some 
moments watching each other, but I soon got 
tired of that, and again advanced on the 
buffalo, keeping an eye on the Indians as I did 
so. As soon as one of the buffalo sfot on his 
feet, I nhot him down. The others sprang up 
and seem surprised that the one I had shot 
was lying down, but in less than a minute I 
had them also. I then got my wagon, and 
putting it between me and the red skins, whc 



CHARLES L» YOUNGBLOOD. I37 

remained in the same place, proceeded to 
dress them, but closely watching the Indians, 
who, shortly after I began skinning my game, 
sat down on the ground and looked at me 
until I got through, when I loaded them on 
the wr.gon and drove off. 

When I got in to Sherlock station I found 
a great excitement about the Indians, and the 
people supposed that they had killed me as I 
had been out so long. This was about the 
time General Custer and his command were 
killed by them. Uncle Sam had fed and 
fattened the red devils until they were in good 
lighting trim, and they went at it, and were 
killing people every day. About fifty were 
killed in the vicinity of where I was. They 
surprised the people at different places, almost 
before they were known to be axiy where near, 
and shot them down like wild beasts. Some 
were tortured and mutillated in the most 
revolting manner, and scalped and left to die. 
At one place a band of them surprised a school 
that Avas taught by a lady teacher, and cap- 
tured the whole school. Thev did not kill 

(18) 



138 THE ADVENTURES OF 

any of them, but satisfied themselves with 
frightening them nearly to death. They 
thumped and banged them about, and made 
as if they would tomahawk them, and pulled 
their hair and laughed when the frightened 
girls begged for their lives. Three young 
ladies of the school were stripped entirely 
naked and told to go home in that condition. 
After they had satisfied themselves with the 
pupils they started off, but the people had risen, 
and not half of those devils ever saw Sitting 
Bull again. But they stole a great many 
horses and cattle, and the cow-boys joined in 
pnrsuit. The cow-boys were more than a 
match for the reds, and took especial delight 
in fighting them. The troops finally came to 
the reHef ofthe people, but they nearly alA^ays 
move too slow to catch Indians. 

In this raid, however. Col. Lewis did good 
work, but was killed with several of his men, 
in an engagement on White Woman Creek. 
When this happened I was hunting on th€ 
same creek, but did not take much part in the 
fighting, as I thought that if the government 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. I39 

led and fattened the Indians for fighing, and 
kept soldiers to kill them when they were 
fattened, they might go ahead and do it. But 
while I did not take an active part in the hos- 
tilities, my occupation brought me in frequent 
collision with the redskins, but all the fighting 
I did was merely a pure matter of self defense, 
and I made it a point not to get into any un- 
necessary conflict with them. 

One evening, a few days after the fight mi 
White Woman's Creek, I saw a bunch of 
something in a side draw of the creek, and 
supposed it to be buffalo, but it was so smoky 
that I could not distinguish what it was, and 
went nearer. We were then within about a 
half mile of them, and, on going closer, I 
brought my field glass to bear on them and 
found they were Indians. They were lying on 
the ground holding their horses, which I re- 
garded as rather suspicious, and was afraid 
that they had scouts stationed between me 
and them. I had with me at that time a man 
by the name of Brank Howard, and I told 
him that we would withdraw a few hundred 



140 THE ADVENTURES OF 

yards to a ravine, or washout, to stay all night. 
This was a good position and afforded us a 
fair opportunity to repel any attack they should 
make. We hurried our suppsr all we could 
and as soon as possible put the fire out, so that 
it would not betray our position, and put our- 
selves in as good condition for defense as we 
could, when we sat down to watch and wait. 
Shortly after dark our dog began to bark and 
run savagely down the w^ashout and then 
back, keeping up an incessant growling and 
barking, and we knew that the reds were 
prying around our camp with no good intent. 
Soon he grew more furious, and, after dashing 
about fifty yards down the ravine, he would 
come back with his tail between his legs as if 
frightened. This is the way a dog acts when 
Indians are aboi't, and we expected to be 
attacked all the time, and kept ourselves in 
readiness to go to work in a second's notice. 
It was so dark and smoky that 1 never got to 
see them once, and after about two hours 
they went away, the dog became quiet, and 
Howard and myself took turn about sleeping 



CHAl^l.ES L. YOUNGBLOOl). 141 

and watching during the night. * 1 examined 
the ground around our camping phice as soon 
as I could see in the morning and found that 
they had been within twenty paces of us. 
These were a remnant of the band that had 
the fight with Lewis a few days before, and I 
suppose, perhaps, that the reason they did not 
attack us was, that they were dodging the 
sodiers and were in a hurry to get out of the 
countr}'. 

The whites were not the only ones that 
suffered during the trouble, for the Indians 
were compelled to undergo some rather se\'ere 
privations. I remember the- case of an old 
squaw and a papoose about seven years old. 
When the Indians were scattered in the light 
on White Woman, this squaw and child could 
not get away, and, to avoid being taken by the 
soldiers, hid themselves in a washout, and 
when the soldiers left did not know which wsv 
to go, as the tribe was scattered and broken 
up, so they remained where they were. Thev 
could get plenty of water, but nothing to eat, 
except the carcasses of the animals that had 



142 



THE ADVENT L RES OF 



been slain in the fight, and so severe was their 
hunger, and so long did they remain there, that 
they had eaten one mule nearl}' up, the flesh 
of which, w^hen they were found, was putrefied 
and smelled horribly, and the squaw and child 
smelled but little better. They were carried 
prisoners to Ft. Dodge. 



CHARLES L. VOUNGBLOOD. 143 



CHAPTER XVI. 

ENGLIS1TME?5 ON*A LARK. 

Not very long alter the occurrences men- 
tioned in the preceding chapter, five Enp-lish- 
men came to Lakin Station on a lark. They 
were not peers of the realm, neither were they 
dukes or baronets, but they were regular built, 
right lordly Englishmen, of the pure blcod 
and true type, and were on a sight-seeing tour 
over this country. They had plenty of money 
with them, and I should judge from tlie way 
they scattered it right and left, that there was 
plenty more where that came from. They 
were seeing their fun and were paying for it 
too. They arrived at Lakin fully resolved to 
take a buffalo hunt on the plains. 

They had the best of guns, each having a 
good rifle and shotgun apiece. They asked 
me what I would take to pilot them out on the 
"^range" and I answered that if they were going 
to do the shooting that I would go as a pilot 



144 '''HE ADVENTCRKS OF 

\\)Y live dollars a day. They said the}' woivld 
give it, and remarked that the price was cheap 
enough. The next day they procured a two- 
horse carriage, and, alter hiying in a full stock 
of ammunition and provisions, we started. I 
did not ride in the carriage, but took my 
wjigon and team, so that I would be ready 
when they got tired of paying five dollars a 
day. When we left Lakin we started in a 
northeasterly direction. When about twenty 
miles out we ran across a large rattlesnake, 
wdiich the}^ thought w^as wonderful. As thev 
wished to see all about it, I ipade it sing for 
them, and when I finally killed it, one of them 
hf'.d me to ^^kin it to make him a hat band. 
Then they all had to take a swig of beer, of 
which they had brought a goodly quantity, 
which emptied one bottle. They then made 
a bet as to who could break the bottle while 
flying in the air, and began tossing the bottle 
up into the air and firing at it. Finally one of 
them succeeded in hitting it, and they all got 
into the carriage and we again started on. 
We had <.rone but a short distance when one 



CHAULliiS I.. YOUNGBl.OOD. I45 

oi them* who had his head sticking out ot' the 
carriage, exchiimed ''Law, look there," and 
called for the driver to stop the carriage. 1 
thought he saw a buffalo or something of the 
kind, and beg-^n to look around for it, but 
failing to see any, I looked at him to see which 
way he was looking, and saw that he was 
almost going into hysterics over a large spec- 
imen of terrapin. They all clambered out and 
took a good look at it, turned it over with 
their guns and shoved it about with their boots 
until they were satisfied, then they drank 
another bottle of beer, lYiade a bet as to who 
could hit it in the air, and when it was finally 
broken they got into the carriage and we 
again drove on. 

We had gone perhaps a mile when four 
antelopes came dashing past us at full speed. 
All five ' f them jumped out with their guns 
and began firing at them as fast as they could. 
They were about the most excited set ot 
men I ever saw. They fired about fifty shots 
and the poor antelopes ran for dear life, badly 

scared but not seriously injured, and I sup- 
(19) 



146 I'M EC ADVKMTL'HKS OK 

pose not much more excited than the English- 
1.1 en. The men were sadly disappointed at 
the escape oi their game, bat consoled them- 
selves by drinking anot' er bottle of beer and 
breaking the bottle a before. We moved on 
a couple of miles and camped for the night on 
a small creek, and when we arose in the 
mnrningwe could see antelope in every direc- 
tion, but we hitched up and drove on. The 
antelope seemed to be tolerably tame, and the 
pleasure hunters kept up a continual tiring at 
them as we passed along until after noon, but 
without any other effect than to frighten the 
animals. When we stopped for dinner one of 
ihem suggested that they put ''the old man'- — 
nieanin.: me — to shotting or we would starve 
before we could get back to the station. 
''Because," said he, ''we have fired five 
'undred shots to-day and kille " nothing, hand 
if this thing is kept hup we will soon be out 
of hammunition hand no game heither." They 
then put it to a vote and it was unanimously 
agreed that I should kill them an antelope. I 
told them that it they would all stay in the 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. I47 

carriage I would try, and I thought perhaps 
that we might have antelope for supper. Long 
before we got to our camping place I saw a 
drove of antelope and got quietly out of the 
wagon, slipped up as close to them as I could, 
for I did not want to miss after poking so 
much fun at the markmanship of the others, 
and when close enough to shoot I lay down 
in the grass and waited for "a good chance." 
In a moment I got two in range and fired 
bringing both of them down at the first shot. 
At this the men leaped out of the carriage and 
came running up to me, more excited, if possi- 
ble, than when they fired the fifty shots at the 
four scared antelope. After allowing them to 
thoroughly examine the first dead antelopes 
they had ever seen, I -took the entrails out, 
threw the carcasses in the wagon and the 
procession moved on. The Enghshmen still 
kept firing at antelopes, badgers, hawks and 
everything they saw. This was kept up until 
we reached Clear Creek, where we camped 
for the night. Here we found ducks almost 
in swarms, and my friends got among them 



148 THE ADVENTURES OF 

with their shotguns and killed several of hem, 
and we had a regular feast of antelope and 
duck for supper. 

In the morning we harnessed up again and. 
started in a northwesterly direction and trav- 
eled until we came to Bear Creek, where we 
once more camred for the night, and in the 
morning moved on again. When we had 
pfone about a mile we discovered fine butlalo. 
These were the tinest we had seen on the trip 
and the English gentlemen were very anxious 
to kill them all, and jumped out of the car- 
riage and str.rted boldly toward them, very 
much as if they thought the buffalo w^ould be 
glad to see them, but when they were within 
about a quarter of a mile of them the buffalo 
raised their heads, and, taking a short look, 
galloped off, leaving the nabobs sadly disap- 
pointed. When they complained of their bad 
luck to me I told them that they had done 
much better than I expected, as I thought they 
would frighten them away before they got 
half so near. They gave the buffalo up rather 
reluctantly and kept up a continual firing at 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 149 

antelopes and fowls as we traveled along until 
night, but with their usual luck. We camped 
for the night on a small creek called Rocky 
Branch, and in the morning while eating break- 
fast one of them said, *'Mr. Youngblood, how^ 
much do we owe you ? " I told him that I 
had been with them five days, and at five 
dollars a day it would make twenty five 
dollars. They paid me the money and said, 
^'We are done hunting, and want to see you 
shoot a little." I told them that it was all 
right, and if they would stay with me awhile 
I would probably shoot something. We 
moved about six miles to White Woman 
Creek, where I struck a large herd of buffalo. 
I killed one the first fire, and got a 
^'stand" on them and killed seven. We 
dressed them, and moved on. As we passed 
along I kill four antelopes. When we stopped 
for night I cooked some of the buffalo humps, 
and my English lords thought it the finest meat 
they ever tasted. I had a good deal of fun out 
of them on account of their shooting. I 
told them that they had had me five days 



150 THE ADVENTURES OF 

for twenty-five dollars and got nothing, and 
in one day I had made twice that amount. 
We drove back to the station, and there we 
had some more of the humps cooked for dinner, 
but my friends did not like them as v/ell as 
they did my cooking out on the range. 

The next day I bade my English friends 
farewell, and with the man Howard, men- 
tioned before, again struck out for the range. 
At White Woman Creek I struck a large herd 
of buffalo, standing in the creek drinking, but 
before I could get close enough to shoot they 
started out, and I tired on them at long range, 
killing a large cow. She was just going up 
the bank, and when I struck her she came 
rolling down toward the water. She rolled 
off the bluff bank, about twelve feet high, and 
struck in thin mud and went most entirely 
under. Howard and I worked some time 
trying to get her out, but so deep was she in 
the mud that we could not move her. So we 
gave it up as a bad job and went on after the 
rest of the herd. I fired several shots at them 
but only breaking the shoulder of a calf about 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. I5I 

six months old. It could not keep up, with 
the rest and we followed it along up the bed 
of a ^'side draw," until linally I saw that the 
herd had stopped farther up the draw. The 
calf had gotten tired by this time and very 
gentle, and I could easily have shot it, but I 
did not want to frighten the herd, so we 
heided it off and began to try to catch it. I 
coukKget tolerably close to it, but not close 
enough to catch it. It was small and I thought 
it could not hurt me much, and when I would 
let it pass me it would make at me for a fight. 
I supposed I could push it off when it got to 
me and stood my ground, and it came bowing 
and shaking its head,^ and when within a few 
teet of me made a big dash rlghl: at me like 
an old ram, and before I could do anything 
knocked me down and began trampling me 
into the ground. Finding that it did not mean 
to let me up, I reached up and got it by the ears 
and after quite a tussle got it down and fin- 
ished it with my knife. As soon as we could 
dress it we started on after the herd, but had 
to follow them about twelve miles before I 



152 'THE ADVEXTVKES OF 

could get a shot at them to suit me. Here I 
: hot one and it ran on about three hundred 
yards on a hit! and fell. This was on Beaver's 
Creek, and the beavers had built a dam across 
the creek, so that we could not across with the 
team and wagon, and, as it Avas about sun- 
down, I told Howard to turn the horses out 
and 1 would go over and skin the buffalo. I 
crossed the creek on a beaver dam, and had. 
hardly began dressing my game when I 
noticed three niea about three quarters ot a 
mile off on horseback and coming toward us. 
1 took them to be Indians and told Howard to 
gather up the ammunition and get it handy iis 
the I dians were coming, and I picked up my 
gun and started back to the wagon. But it 
was a lalse alarm, as the men were cow-boys 
1 )oking up some lost cattle. 

I had noticed tiiat Howard did not seem to 
I e in an easy frame of mind, any of the time 
he was with me, and I supposed that he had 
gotten into trouble somewhere and was 
dod.-ji'ig. I continually me': men of this clase 
out there and soon learned to think but little 



CHARLES L YOUNGBLOOD. 1 53 

of it, and let it pass without any remarks or 
inquiries. I had not said a word to Howard, 
but noticed that, as we prepared to start in 
with our load, he grew more nervous and ill 
at ease than ever, and seemed to be extremely 
anxious and uneasy. In fact he was so much 
so that I thought it would be right for me to 
speak to him about it and give him a chance 
to unload himself to me, as it would be likely 
to relieve the strain upon his mind. So the 
first opportunity that offered I asked him if 
something was not troubling him, and if T 
could do anything for him. He then said with 
a sorrowful smile, "Do I act as if something 
was bothering me?" "I have seen many a 
man in your condition," answered I, "'and can 
guess pretty well as to the cause ; and if you 
are in a difficulty, and half way innocent, I 
will try to help you in some way or other, and 
if you are really guilty of some infernal crime 
I will agree not to give you away, so spit it 
out, and we will see what can be done. My 
opinion is that you got away Avith some fellow 
Avhere you came from, but whatever it is let's 

(20) 



THE ADVENTURES OF 



have it;- He looked at nie for a moment as 
if amazed, and finally said, -You have guess- 
ed well. I am in trouble and in the way you 
say, but I am net guilty of v/ilful murder, yet 
I oread the consequences of being apprehended. 
At Fort Scott, Mo., I traded horses with a 
jockey, and the next day he came to me and 
said f should trade back, as I had cheated him 
by lying abouc my horse. I told him that I 
•,iever traded back ; when I traded and found 
.nvself che ted I had to stand to my bargain, 
:mcl if I happened to make a good trade I 
mean: to keep It. He then grew furious and 
said he would make me trade back, but I told 
:iim he would do nothing of the kind, when 
;ie new at me with his raw-hide whip and 
;>egan whipping me over the head and face 
Avith it. This was more than I could stand, 
:;nd, as he was a large bully, I drew my knife 
:uid'used it with fatal effect. I fled imme- 
diately, not because I was afraid of being 
iianged, but 1 knew it would cause me a great 
vleal of trouble and cost me a large amount ot 
money to vindicate myself, as I had no friends 



CHARI.es I.. YOUNGBLOO!). I 55 

with me at the time, and I kne x the few spec- 
tators to be very reckless and predjiidiced 
against me. I have sent for my family to 
meet me at Lakin, and they will be there to- 
morrow or the next day, and I have been 
thinking that the otiicers may follow them and 
trace me out in that way. Now, what I want 
to know of you is this: Do you blame me 
for using my knife on him, and w411 you do 
anything against me? " 

''No," said I, '4 do not blame you at all, 
if it is the way 3-ou say, and will be glad to 
help you if I can. So if you have anything 
you wish me to do, let me hear it." 

''I have nothing for you to do at present," 
said he, "except that when we go in to the 
Station, you go in first and find out if there are 
any strangers in town, and if they are from 
Ft. Scott, or that vicinity. If there are, I 
want you to pry around and find out what 
their business is, and report to me; if you find 
my family already there you can tell them 
how it is, and let me know as soon as 3'ou can 
see how the land lays." 



156 THE ADVEKTLRES OF 

I told him I would do so and in the morninLi- 
started in without him. When I got in 1 
noticed a stranger, but paid no attention to him 
then, and began getting rid of my load ot" 
meat, but soon the s^iranger came up to the 
\vagon and began -looking at the meat, re- 
marking that it was the tirst he had ever seen. 

''It is ; ■' said I in feigned astonishment. 
''Where did you come from.^" 

"From Missouri, near Ft. Scott," was his 
a- swer. 

Then I knew he was a detective, hunting for 
Howard, but thought him very stupid to tell 
where he was from and give himself away so 
easily. He took quite an in erest in me and fol- 
lowed me about questioning me at every 
opportunity. "Let's see, what is your name?'' 
he asked. I told him my name. "Do you 
hunt for a living." I replied in the affirmative. 

"Do you hunt by yourself?" 

"Sometimes I do." 

"Have you any one with you now." 

"Yes, but I do not know where he is." 

"When are you going out again? " 

I told him I could not tell, as it depended 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 157 

entirely upon circumstances ; I might go out 
the next day, and I might not go again for a 
week or more. ''Well," saidhe/4f you go out 
to-morrow I would like to go with you." I 
told him I would see about it and left him. 
When I went to the hotel I found Howard's 
family there sure enough, but the stranger 
watched me so closely that I could have no 
conversation with thewo man. I was very 
roughly dressed and my clothes were bloody, 
and I suppose the vvoman at first took me for 
a desperado, reeking with the blood of his vic- 
tims. As soon, however, as she found out that 
I was the "old hunter" that her husband was 
with, she manifested a desire to speak to me, 
but was watching the stranger as well as I and 
would not speak to me in his presence, for she 
had noticed him getting on and off the cars 
every time that she did, and had pretty well 
divined his purpose. The first chance I could 
get I told her where her husband was, and she 
begged me to help them to outwit the detective 
and get away. I promised her that I would do 
so, and about ten o'clock that night slipped out, 
went to Howard and reported what I had 



158 THE ADVENTURES OF 

seen and heard. I told him to keep still until 
the next night and I would try to get him out 
and away. I talked about the Station the 
next day, and spent some time in the company 
of the stranger from Ft. Scott, and in his 
presence announced my intention of soon go- 
ing on another hunt, and told him that if my 
partner did not come back I would be pleased 
to have him go with m.e. He was anxious to 
do so and we parted fast friends, but when he 
got up the next morning, the woman and chil- 
dren that he had followed from Ft. Scott were 
gone. As soon as ever^^thing was still that 
night I harnessed up the team, and, taking 
Howard's family with me, drove to where he 
was concealed, and started themtoward Col- 
orado, telling them to keep hidden during the 
day and travel during the night, and they were 
soon out of the reach of the detective. I got 
back to the hotel in time to get up for break- 
fast with the rest, but when the detective 
missed Howard's family he looked sharply 
at me, as if he thought that if I chose I could 
tell how they got away. As good luck would 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 



1 59 



have it, seme one told him that a woman and 
children got on a train that passed during the 
night, and he boarded the tirst train and left 
on a false track. This is the last I ever saw ot 
either of the parties, but have since heard that 
Howard was caught, taken back to Ft. Scott, 
tried and acquitted. 




l6o THE ADVENTURES OF 



CHAPTER XVII. 

HUNTING ON THE ''RANGE," ETC. 

The events detailed in the preceding chapter 
resulted in leaving me without a hand, but I 
soon struck a man by the name of Henderson. 
He had a good team, and we were soon on 
our way to the "range" with two teams. We 
first went to White Woman Creek, and on 
the way saw hundreds of antelopes, but we 
were looking for buffalo, and did not disturb 
them. Not finding any buffalo we crossed 
the creek, where we camped for the night. 
I killed an antelope for supper, and ihe next 
day we moved on to Beaver Creek, and again 
stopped tor the night, camping under the bluff 
about twenty yards from the water. It was 
cool, cloudy weather, and there was but little 
water in the creek, but when we got up in the 
morning we were surprised to find ourselves 
surrounded by water, the more especially so, 
because it had not rained at all during the 
night. We could not understand it, as the 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. l6l 

water had raised from four inches to six teet, 
und evidently did not come from any freshet 
above as the water was not at all muddy. 
We managed to get out by wading and getting 
uncomfortable wet. When breakfast was 
over we proceeded down the creek to inves- 
tigate as to the sudden rise. I knew that the 
cause was some stoppage below, but could 
not tell, though very anxious to find out what 
it was. We had not gone far when we came 
to a big beaver dam which the beavers were 
hard at work repairing. Then the cause ot 
the sudden rise in the creek flashed upon me. 
The dam had lately broken and let the water 
in the creek run out, and the beavers had filled 
up the break the day that we camped at 
niofht and the mvsterv of the night was ex- 
plained. 

As a Httle sketch of the habits of this sin- 
gularly intelligent animal may prove of inter- 
est to some of my readers, I will stop long 
enough to give in brief words what I know 
of the beaver: 

This animal is about three times as large as 

(2U 



I 

162 THE ADV'ENTURES OF 

the common coon, with which all are familiar, 
and always about the water. They are par- 
ticularly adapted to the water, having webbed 
feet, and the power to stay under the water 
for a long time. They have a broad, flat tail 
which they use as a trowel, and strong, heavy 
teeth with which they cut down large trees. 
They build houses of sticks and mud in the 
shape of a circular arch, with the entrance 
under the water, and have the different lodges 
connected by pass ways. In order that they 
may always have water to play in, they fre- 
quently build large dams across the stream. 
These dams are built of mud, sticks, logs and 
even large trees, the latter they cut down with 
their teeth at some point in the creek above 
the dam, and carried to the proper place by 
floating it down the current. To one who 
never before saw a beaver town and dam, the 
sight is as much of a wonder to him as any- 
thing you could show him. But as space 
is limited I will give the beaver a rest and 
pass on. 

Leaving the beaver dam that had caused us 



CHARLliS L. VOUNGBLOOD. 163 

Jso much astonishment, we passed down the 
creek about twenty miles and then went 
across to the Cold Train Lakes^, where we 
found numerous antelope watering. I told 
Henderson that we would stop right there and 
kill a load of antelope. Henderson turned out 
the horses and I went to work and before 
night I had killed twenty-four. The next 
morning a large buffalo came in to water and 
I got him. This made our load and we pulled 
in to Sherlock, whefe we sold out for $71*00, 
one-third of which went to Henderson. 
We only staid in Sherlock over night and 
started out again, this time going on the bed 
of the Pawnee River, as I supposed the buffalo 
were there* But when we arrived We found 
that the Indians had been there and had chased 
them out of the country on horeback. It 
frightens them badly to chase them on horse- 
back, and when thus started do not soon stop* 
Finding that we could get no buffalo there, I 
set in and killed a load of antelope, and we 
took them into Pierceville, the nearest station. 
We then took another shoot, going in south ol 



164 'J^HE ADVENTURES OF 

the Arkansas River. I had killed plenty of 
buffalo there and supposed I could easily do so 
again. We had only gotten about twenty 
miles south when we came to where the 
prairie had been recently burned. 
We traveled tw^o more days that we 
did not see anything at all but the 
burned prairie. The w^orst of all was, that 
we had taken but very l.ttle grub along 
with us, of course, expecting to find plenty o^ 
game, but in this we were disappointed, as all 
the game had been chased out by the tire. I 
had two dogs along and they soon began to 
manifest decided symtoms of hunger, but as we 
had but a very little for ourselves we did not 
think it exactly prudent to divide with them. 
At last I saw a badger lying near his hole 
and shot him for my dogs, but they would not 
taste it at all. I thought perhaps they might 
get hungry enough to eat it beiore they got 
anything else, so I threw it into the wagon and 
took it along. When we camped that night 
I again offered them some badger, but they 
were not ready for it yet. I dressed it and 



CHARI.es I> YOUNGBLOOl). 1 65 

roasted it nicely but they wouldn't hiive it 
yet. I still left it before them and by morn- 
ing they had it nearly devoured. The next 
day, about 2 o'clock, we arrived on the north 
fork of Cimarron Creek. About the time we 
struck the creek, Henderson pointed to a hill 
to the left of us and said, "There are four 
buffalo heads ; some hunter has been here 
not long ago." 

I jumped upon the wagon to see them, 
but as soon as I looked I told him to squat 
down for those heads were fast to the buffalo 
yet. T took my gun, and, getting as close to 
them as I dared, saw that one of them was a 
cow and the other three were young' ones. I 
concluded to kill the cow first, and then I 
would be pretty apt to get the whole lot. In 
this I was right, for the old one never got up 
after I shot her, and in two minutes I had 
them all. It is useless to state that we had a 
feast that night, dogs and all. 

The next day we drove about ten miles, 



v66 THE ADVENTLRES OP 

when we got out of the burnt district^ and t 
got on a high hill, and* scanning the plains 
with my held glass, I discovered a large herd 
of buffalo about six miles ahead of us. We 
drove as close as we could with the wagon* 
and then I got out, and, shooting one down^ 
••got a stand" on them and killed all we could 
haul in both wagons. As we were going in 
We sav/ a large herd close to the road, and, 
as we wished to pay them a visit when w^e 
^:ould take care of some of them, we waited 
lOr them to move, not wishing to frighten 
ihenij As soon as the buffalo moved out of 
our w^ay w^e drove past, and, when we reached 
Uie station, disposed of our meat as fast as 
possible, and, hiring a hand to go v^ith us, 
^tarted back for the herd w^e had left. We 
expected to find them on Bear Creek, as they 
were heading that way, and, with that expec- 
tation, we drove up the creek, looking for 
them 4 After traveling about forty miles we 
had a snow storm, which left us with about 
MX inches of snow, and we were compelled to 
lay over for tw^o days in the bed of Bear Creek. 



CHARLES I. YOUNGBLOOD. 1 67 

On the morning of the third day as I was 
making a fire I heard a fearful racket near, 
and ran up the bank to see what it could be. 
When I got up the bank I saw a buffalo and 
four wolves fighting. The buffalo somehow 
got hurt in the loins during the light and could 
no lono^er run. As soon as the wolves saw 
me they run off, leaving me in possession o\ 
the prize. 

Despairing of finding the buffalo as I had 
expected, we turned south toward the north 
fork of Cimarron Creek, and found a herd oi 
fourteen and got eleven of them. This made 
out our load and we again drove in. 

When we got into the station (Lakin) there 
were three men from New York who had 
never seen a live buffalo. They examined my 
load very closely, and finally asked me what 
I would charge to take them with me the ne>.t 
time I went out. They merely wanted to go 
along to see what they could see. J tok: 
them that I would let them go for a dollar 
apiece per day, and the bargain was soon 
closed. 



t68 the adventures of 

As soon as we could sret ready we started 
from Lakin zx\(\ w^ent south of the Arkansas 
River to the head w^aters of North Fork 
Creek, about thirt}/ miles back. We camped 
for the night on the creek, and during the 
night a snow fell about four inches deep. We 
lay still until about lo o'clock, when the snow 
began to melt, and we harnessed up and drove 
about fifteen miles up the creek, when I 
thought it was about time to strike som.e 
buffalo, and getting on a hill, where I could 
get a good view for miles, I took my field 
.;lass and "viewed the landscape o'er." 1 saw 
:xii immense number of horses and cattle in 
Jitlerent directions, and, after looking some 
■ime, I espied a herd of buli'alo, about five 
iailes off. 

When J went to the wagon and told my 
4-ompanions that I had found a herd of butfalo. 
t le}^ were very much elated, and we drove on 
)ward the herd. We soon got on lower 
■; round, and were out of sight of them for 
s )me time, but kept our course, and when we 
i'l lally came in sight of them they \vere not 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. I 69 

not more than a half mile off*. We were then 
as close as we dared drive. I usually crawl 
on my hands and knees in the grass and get 
as close to a herd as I wish, but this time the 
ground was so cold and muddy that I did not 
ieel like crawling, but just ran toward them 
until they began to get alarmed, and then 
began shooting. I had to fire at long range 
and after several shots I finally broke the 
shoulder of one, and he soon dropped out of the 
herd, not being able to keep up. I waited 
until the wagon came up and put the dogs on 
the crippled one and let them kill him, and 
we would camp here for the night. The crip- 
pled buffalo made his way the best he could 
after the herd, with the dogs laying him, until 
he got on a rise in the ground, when the rest 
of the herd, seeing the fight, turned and came 
dashing back, and began to try to kill the dogs, 
who, though laying at them all the time, kept 
out of their way. They kept moving toward 
us while they were fighting, and my New 
York chaps began to get frightened and were 
afraid they would come toward us, but I told 

(22) 



170 THE ADVENTURES OF 

them there was no danger, and if they would 
come to me I would show th:m bow to kill 
buffalo, but I could not get them any closer. 
Finding it useless to waste time with them, 
I went to within a hundred and fifty yards of 
the buifalo and began firing. The herd was 
paying no attention to anything but the dogs, 
and at every shot I fired a buffalo dropped. 
I kept up firing until there was but one left, 
and he seemed to suddenly -become conscious 
that he was alone and began to look for com- 
pany, and started right toward the New 
Yorkers. They thought sure that they were 
gone and began darting here and there, but 
when the buffalo was fifty yards of them it 
stopped to see what they were, and I sent a 
bullet through its heart, and it dropped dead. 
The New Yorkers were greatly relieved when 
they saw their enemy fall, and I suppose that 
they believe to this day that I saved their 
lives, though they were in no trouble at all. 
I had then thirteen buffalo, with the sun only 
about an hour high and all of them to dress 
before I went to bed. My companions oftered 



CHARLES I. YOUNGBLOOI). Ijl 

to help me and did the best they could, but 
even that was not much, as they were banker's 
and lawyer's clerks and had never seen a 
buffalo before. With the exception of three 
the buffalo lay in a radius of thirty feet, and 
I built a fire near the center and by about 
,12 o'clock we had them in the wagons* 

We talked the remainder of the night, and 
the next morning we saw a herd of about 
three hundred near us, I pitched into this 
herd and got eight. This made all we could 
haul, and we started in to Lakin. When we 
arrived at the hotel the landlord asked me 
why I did not bring some antelope. I told him 
that I was out after buffalo and didn't look for 
antelope. He then asked if I couldn't go out 
the next day and get him some, and I replied 
that I would try. 

I took my old Indian pony and started, and 
found a nice herd not far from the station, 
and, slipping up as close as I could, I killed 
three. I had with me a rope about twen"!^ 
feet long that I used to picket my horse, and 
tied mv horse to the neck of one of the ante- 



172 THE ADVENTURES OF 

lopes, which was not deid yet, though 1 sup- 
posed that it wr,s just about breathing its last, 
and went on after the antelope. I started on 
their trail, overtook them and killed six, and 
when I got back to where I had left my horse, 
he was missing, as was also the antelope I 
hitched to him. 1 started out after chem and 
tound the antelope leading the horse by the 
picket rope. I soon dispatched it and started 
round gathering up w^hat I had killed. I tied 
their heads together, two and two, 2.nd threw 
them across my horse until I got them all on, 
then I went in driving my horse before me. 
I must have presented an odd ^ippearance as 
I entered die station in this manner, but, be 
this as it may, I gave them a good supply ot 
antelope and got my pay for them, too. 



CHARLES L YOUNGBl.OOD. 173 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

ALMOST STARVED EATING PRAIRIE DOGS 

A GREEN hunter's RELIC HUNTING AN- 
TELOPE, ETC. 

I REMEMBER once I Started out on a hunt 
to a range where I had been finding plenty of 
game, but when I got there I found that the 
lakes had dried up and the game had gone 
elsewhere for water, and I drove three days 
without killing anything, and I soon began to 
get hungry and was compelled to go two days 
entirely without food. At last I struck a 
dog town, and by that time I was so hungry 
that I struck it for something to eat. I had 
never eaten a prairie dog and had not regarded 
them as at all choice as an article of food, but 
I turned my horses out and shot one of the 
little varmints, fried him nicely and ate 
him. He tasted so nicely that I tried 
another, and another, and still another until 
I had eaten six. Ordinarily a man could 



174 '^'^^^ ADvr:NTUREs of 

not eat more than one, but I Avas so hungry 
and had nothing to eat with them that I easily 
got aw?y with six. I then hitched up and 
drove about forty miles when I fell in with a 
man named Edward Day, who had just killed 
a buffalo and had the humps with him. I told 
him that J was as hungry as a wolf and would 
like to have something to eat, and we stopped, 
built a lire and cooked a good mess. 

After dinner 1 asked him where the game 
had gone, and he replied tha he had seen a 
large herd only about five miles from where 
we were. This revived my spirits considerably 
and I immediately started for them and killed 
six. I camped there that night and the 
next morning three men came to my camp in 
a wagon. They had been out to kill buffalo, 
but had failed, and started back with heavy 
iiearts. After we had talked a while they said 
the}^ would give me five dollars if I would 
show them how to kill a buffalo. I told them 
I would do so, and w^e were soon after the 
game. The buffalo were very thick then and 
we were not long in finding plenty. Bu: the 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. I 75 

one who offered live dollars to teach him how 
to kill them was so much afraid of them that 
I could hardly get him near enough to do so ; 
but I got him as close as I could and showed 
him which one to kill and he fired away but 
missed clear. I saw that 1 had a hard task 
and must get him closer, so I shot and crippled 
one and put him after it. It moved off slowly 
and he fired some twenty shots at it without 
any visible effect, and I moved him up within 
fifty yards of it, but by this this time he was 
so nervous that he shook as if he had an ague 
fit, and missed again. The buffalo, seeing us 
about to overtake it, turned for light, and I 
had to shoot it down at last. I told him to 
shoot it quick before it was dead, and he ran 
ran up and put a ball in its ham, and turning 
to me handed me the five dollars. He thanked 
me very kindly, asked me to skin its head, 
and said he was going to have it stuffed and 
when he was an old man he would exhibit it 
to his grandchildren as a relic of his exploits 
as a great hunter. 

We then camped there for the night, but as 



176 THE ADVENTURES OF 

we had to build the fire of buffalo chips, my 
friends were too extremely nice to touch them 
and I had to gather all the fuel myself. I 
often found men when they were on the plains 
for the first time that were too dainty of taste 
to eat anything cooked by a fire made of 
this kind of fuel ; but they soon get over their 
squeamishness and come to their senses. 

About the onl)^ man I ever saw that took 
kindly to buffalo chips at first dash was an old 
fried of mine, with whom some ol my readers 
are acquainted — he sometimes rolls pills — 
who came out to Kansas to look at the coun- 
try, and while out called to see me. We 
went out after antelope, and stopping at the 
head of a small branch we found a small hole 
of water, at which I could see that the ante- 
lope had been watering freely. I told m}^ 
friend that we would stop and get some of 
them. We unhitched the horse and got the 
buggy down in a draw where it would be 
out of sight of the game, and we sat down to 
take a lunch. While we were eating an an- 
telope stepped in sight within twenty paces of 



CHARI.es I. YOUXGBf.OOl). 1 77 

US and I picked up my gun, which happened 
to be within reach, and killed it. In a lew 
moments two more came to the spot where 
the dead one was lying and I saved both ot 
them. I then told my friend to build a lire 
and I w^ould skin the antelope, and we would 
have some fresh meat. He said he w^ould do 
so and asked me w^iere he would find some 
wood. I pointed at some ^'chips'' and told 
him there was plenty. Contrary to my ex- 
pectations he jumped right into them and 
began raking them up with his hands, and it 
was but a few minutes until he had a chunk oi 
bread in one hand and a lump of meat in the 
other. 



(23^ 



178 THE ADVENTURES OF 



CHAPTER XIX. 

A SHORT time after the occurrences detailed 
in the last chapter, myself and a friend went 
out on a hunt. We struck out south of the 
Arkansas River until we came to the North 
Fork, which was about thirty miles, then we 
traveled up this stream tor nearly thirty miles, 
when we went south near the Point of Rock, 
on the South Fork of Cimarron River. Here 
we struck a large herd of buffalo, which my 
friend tackled while I remained with the team. 
The buffalo were down in a hollow and when 
he fired on them they dashed right toward 
me. I did not want to shoot as we had a very 
wild team and I did not care to be ran away 
with, but they came so close that I picked up 
my gun and blazed away. In my haste I 
forgot to withdraw the gunstick, which I had 
inserted with some oiled tow to prevent its 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. I 79 

rusting, and strung two on the gunstick. I 
creased them on the loins and brought them 
both down, but the horses were about to be- 
come unmanageable, and I had to stop my 
shooting and give them my whole attention. 
When my friend came up he was surprised to 
see that I had killed two as he had heard me 
shoot but once. 

We soon got our load and started back, and 
after driving fifteen miles we camped by a 
big spring for the night. About 9 o'clock the 
wolves, attracted by the smell of fresh meat, 
began to howl around us. We had a dog 
with us that would fight them, though he had 
no business with a wolf, and they finally came 
so near that they and the dog kept up a con- 
tinual racket all night. He would rush out at 
them and chase them a short distance, when 
they would turn and drive him back to where 
we were lying, then he would bay them until 
he got them started, when he would 
drive them back again. This proceeding was 
repeated ever}^ few minutes during the whole 
night, and, as you may well imagine we did 



l60 THE ADYK^TVUn^ (V 

not sleep a wink. The wolves were nearly 
starved and seemed determined to have some- 
thing to eat. At one time during the night it 
was really exciting and not at all pleasant. 
At one time when they had chased the dog 
right up to us, one of them attacked him and 
they lought viciously over and upon us for 
some time, but we pulled our buffalo robes 
over us as soon as we could and did not get 
injured at all, but we we were not at all com- 
fortable until the fight was over, the dog fin- 
ally driving the wolf ofl\ In the morning we 
got up feeling worse than when we lay down, 
l)ut got to sleep good the next night. 



4 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. l8r 



CHAPTER XX. 

In a few days after this I started on another 
hunt, taking with me an editor who wanted 
to see a herd of buffalo. On the second night 
we camped on Carter Draw on a large lake. 
We had not stopped long before we dis- 
covered that the antelope were coming- 
in great numbers to the lake for water. The 
next morning they began to come in before 
sunrise, and I told the editor that if he would 
get breakfast 1 would go out and try to kill 
some of them, and after a run of about an 
hour I got ten. As soon as breakfast was 
over, I drove around and gathered up the 
game, and then started in to Sycamore 
Station, about, thirty miles distant, on 



1 82 THE ADVENTURES OF 

the Atchinson and Sr„nta Fe Railroad, where 
shipped the antelope to Fisher, the hotel 
})roprietor at Lakin. 

From Syracuse we drove about forty miles 
north, near White Woman Creek, where we 
ran on to a large herd of buffalo, but as it was 
about sundown when we discovered them we 
only took a good look at them, and concluded 
to wait unttl morning before we disturbed 
them. It was a very large herd and closely 
covered a half a mile square, and we went to 
bed speculating on the big load we would get 
in the morning, but when w^e got up not a 
single buffalo was to be seen. The editor was 
considerably discouraged, but it was easy to 
follow the trail, and as soon as we could get 
ready we started on after them, and, after 
about tifteen miles travel, came upon them 
lying down. I slipped on them as close as I 
could and killed four. We dressed them and 
aofain drove on, and when we were near what 
is called the State Line Trail, I concluded to 
finish mv load with antelope, and began kill- 
in<^ ih-em. When I had killed seven we ran 



CHARLES L YOUNGKLOOi:). 183 

across a fellow with a team, and I hired him 
to take my load in to Sargeant Station a :d 
ship it to Lakin, and I drove on. We traveled 
east a few miles and stopped on a small lake 
where the buffalo and antelope were watering. 
During the night several antelope came near 
us to get water, and the editor shot one ot 
them, his first, and, so lar as I know, his only 
antelope. About lo o'clock the horse we had 
picketed near us suddenly began to snort and 
act very much frightened. I sprang to my 
teet thinging that the Indians were on us, but 
was surprised to see a large herd of buffalo 
within fifty yards of us coming for water. 
There were plenty of them within a few feet 
us, and they surrounded the wagon and so 
frightened one of our horses that he broke 
loose. I could easily have killed several but 
was afraid that it would frighten the horse 
still more and make him leave us entirely, 
and I could only stand and look at them. x\s 
soon as they passed I went and got the horse 
and we again lay down, but in a few minutes 
a single buffalo came down for a drink and I 



184 I'HE advp:ntures of 

shot him. We then put on our clothes and 
dressed him and did not sleep any more that 
night. In the morning we drove about live 
miles, when we struck a large herd and got 
six of them. This finished our load, and by 
the time we had them dressed it was nearly 
night, but 1 proposed to my partner that as 
the moon would shine we might start in to 
the station. 

Shortly after we started the sky became 
cloudy and the night grew dark and I lost my 
bearing, and for fear ol getting still worse we 
stopped for day. When we went to picket 
our horses it was found that our tether had 
been left where we camped the night before, 
and were compelled to take it turn about 
holding the horses until daylight. We soon 
found where we were and pulled in to Aubery 
Station, sold what I could and drove on to 
Lakin. The editor published an accoant of 
our hunt in his paper, and if you ever see it 
vou can compare it w^ith this and see how they 
tally. On this hunt I killed seventv-two ante- 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. 185 

lope and eleven buffalo, which, considering 
the circumstances, did pretty well. 

When I arrived at Lakin I found two 
sportsmen from Connecticutt waiting for me. 
They wanted me to go merely as a pilot and 
they w^nnted to do all the shooting themselves. 
They had an armory of six guns: two 
breech-loading shot-guns, two breech-loading 
rifles and two 1 8-inch rifles. They were to 
give me three dollars a day as long as we were 
out, and as soon as I was rested we started 
south of the Arkansas River about twenty 
miles. Their forte seemed to be the shot-gun, 
and they wanted to go where there was plenty 
of fowls. It was new to me to see men want to 
get after ducks and snipes where they can 
find plenty of antelope and buffalo, but they 
wanted fowls and I found what they wanted. 
I took them to a large lake that was alive 
with ducks and kendricks. The kendrick is 
about the size of the guinea fowl, and its flesh 
is delicate and finely flavored. There was 
also a kind of snipe about the size of a quail, 
and its flesh is excellent. What with ken- 



I 86 TME ADVENTURES OJ" 

dncks, snipe and the diflferent kinds of ducks 
the lake seemed ahnost aHve, and my sports- 
men had a gay old time. They were partic- 
ularly interested in the kendricks, and reg rded 
them as a great curiosity ; they have long- 
legs for wading and an extremely long bill, 
generally about seven inches in length. These 
men would not shoot at a bird except on the 
wing, and never fired on them when the}' 
were in a bunch, but would make them fly up 
and selecting one bring it down. 

They kept up their sport until one of them 
in firing at a duck on the wing happened to 
shoot the other with bird shot, but as the shot 
they were using was small it did not kill nor 
seriously injure him, but it put an end to the 
hunt, and we went back to Lakin. 

Here I found two more men waiting for me 
to pilot them out on a hunt. They were 
doctors from Chicago and we soon came to 
terms. We started the next morning and 
going about twenty came to a lake and stopped 
for the night. Here we found aritelope and 
killed seven. The doctors had shot-guris and 



chart.es l. youngblood. 187 

kept blazing avva}' at everything they saw. 
The wolves seemed very hungry and came 
howling around quite close to us and my doc- 
tors killed several during^ the night with their 
stot-guns. 

They were well pleased with the sport and 
in the morning wc harnessed up and started 
to find some butfalo. But just at that time 
nearly everybody was after buffalo and ante- 
lope, and some days one could see as many as 
lift}' wagons going in every direction tor meat, 
and would not know what to do if they should 
happen to stumble on a herd. They were 
around with anything they could get hold of, 
including knives, pistols, shot guns, etc. They 
would ask me if the buffalo would fight, and 
some seemed to imagine that they could ride 
right up by the side of one and kill it with a 
pistol or knife, and if they found a herd they 
would rush right up as if they expected them 
to stand still until they caught them by the 
tails and cut their throats. In fact their crazy 
rush and racket frightened the buffalo and 
antelope out of the country and caused them 



1 88 THE ADVENTURES OF 

to seek a refuge from the din and noise 
farther west, and they ^vere so frightened that 
they did not come back for six months. Most 
of these fellows had been gulled into coming- 
west by land agents to get cheap land and 
had been bitten. At any rate they had driven 
the buffalo off and we had to go back without 
anv. 



CHAKJ.es I. YOUNGBLOOD. 1^9 



CHAPTER XXI. 

ON ANOTHER BUFFALO HUNT PRAIRH^ ON 

FIRE BUFFALO STAMPEDE AN EXCITBD 

COMPANION NEARLY STARVED SNOW- 
BOUND HUNTING WILD HORSES; ETC. 

I WILL now call your attention to a buffalo 
hunt that I took wnth a man by the name ot 
Edward Riley. We started out from Wallace 
Station on the K. R. Railroad. On the second 
day we found a very large herd. They were 
coming toward us, and as the prairie was on fire 
behind them they were in a general stampede. 
I left Riley with the team and killed five in a 
very few moments, but was not long before 
the fire was right on us and Riley became so 
much frightened that I could not hardly do 
anything with him, and while my attention was 
directed to something else he turned and drove 
off in a gallop to make his escape, leaving me 
alone to do the best I could. After going a 



190 THE ADVIi:XTUKP:S OF 

short distance be turned to come back, but b\- 
this time the smoke was so dense that he 
could net find me. I went on and dressed the 
bultalo that I had killed, but Riley did not put 
in pn appearance. By this time the danger 
trom the fire was over and I waited 
patiently until dark. Still Riley did not 
appear. I began to cast about to see how I 
was o-oino^ to keep from freezinjj^, as I had 
left my coat on the wagon when I started 
after the buffalo, and Riley had driven oti' 
w' th it, leaving me in my shirt sleeves, and 
the weather was very cold. I finally took the 
hindes of two ol the buffalo that I had killed 
and roiled myself up in them as close as 1 
could, and it was not long until he\' froze and 
become as solid as a holler log. Still I was 
warm, but could not move at all. I lay thus 
until the sun was an hour high in the morn- 
ing, and by dint of hard squeezing I managed 
to crawl out of my prison and look around, but 
no Riley was to be seen. 

I went to the top ot a high hill but could 
not see him at all, though I could see for miles 



CHARLES I. YOUNGBLOOi:). I9I 

in every direction. I did not see him until 
late in the evenino- when he came in sigiit. 
You can imagine how glad I was to see him 
when I tell you that I had not had a bite to 
eat since he had left me, over twenty-four 
hours before, as I had no matches to start a 
tire to cook it with. When he came up I got 
a bite to eat, and we loaded up our m^eat and 
started down Goose Creek. We had scared}' 
started when it began to spit snow and indi- 
cate a snow storm. We soon stopped and 
camped in a draw and in the morning w^e 
found that the snow had drifted around our 
tent to the depth of about four feet, though on 
the level it was only about six inches deep. 
We got out and started, but it was so cold 
and disagreeable that we had to stop again, 
and we soon found ourselves snow-bound. 
When it cleared off we began to make prep- 
arations to move out, but found our wagon so 
badly "snowed in'' that it took us some time 
to shovel it out. After a hard tug w^e finall}' 
got into Wallace, just two weeks from the 
time we started. 



192 THE ADVENTURES OF 

When we drove in the people came running 
up to ask if we had seen or heard anything of 
the Indians. They then told that there had 
been a big fight in the vicinity of the station. 
in which twenty-eight Indians had been killed. 
They had given us up for gone, though we 
had never seen an Indian or thought of dan- 
ger. 

I will now^ tell you of a wild horse chase 
that I happened to get into a short time alter 
my buffalo hunt. Three of us started out to 
take three herds, one apiece. We took four 
hands along with us. On the second day I 
killed a load of buffalo and and sent a man in 
to Lakin with it, and w^e went on until we 
found wild horses, then we camped and pre- 
pared lor business. 

I selected for mine a herd of twenty-six — 
twenty-five ba^^s and a roan — while the other 
two took one a herd of twenty-two and the 
other a herd of twenty-four, and we started 
out to see who could do the best. The herds 
started in the same general direction, going 
northwest into Colorado about one hundred 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. I93 

miles from where we started them. We 
passed through a dry country but finally struck 
a sec lion where there had been plenty of rain 
and the grasswas good. Thehorses wanted to 
stay here and began circling about. After 
fifteen days' hard driving we drove into Lakin 
with fifty-six head. 

I had a corrall prepared for the purpose, 
which was made of railroad ties set about 
eighteen inches in the ground with wings 
formed the same way leading into it. We got 
them in the corrall after some difficulty, but 
yet had a hard job on hand. They all had to 
be broken or handled. To do this an exper- 
ienced cow-boy throws a lasso over the head 
of one and chokes him down, when he is 
bitted and held by long ropes until he gives up 
and consents to be led about. It is important 
that they be handled as soon as they are driven 
in before they have time to rest up. They 
should also be handled every day until they 
become perfectly docile. 

In 1 88 1 I started out from Aubrey on a 
buffalo hunt, and went north of the Arkansas 

(25) 



194 J^'HE ADVENTURES OF 

River. When I had gone about forty miles 
I came to a small lake where I found signs 
that buffalo had been there very recently. I 
ascertained which direction they went and 
started after them. When 1 had gone about 
five miles I discovered a herd. I had two 
teams and two men with me. I left the men 
with the wagons and slipped up as close as I 
could and wounded but one when they dashed 
over a hill and out of sight, but I noticed that 
they were bearing around the bill and ran 
across to intercept them if I could do so. As 
was running along I heard something behind 
me, and, on looking around, saw a buffalo call 
which had evidently been asleep when the rest 
dashed oti and when it awakened it took right 
after me. It was a small one and came right 
to me. I seized it and held it until my men 
came up with the wagons when we tied it and 
put it in a wagon. When I got to the other 
side of the hill I saw that the wounded one 
had dropped close by the road side, but when 
I got up to it I saw that one of its hams was 
entirely gone. I was very much surprised, 



CHARLES L. YOUNGBLOOD. I95 

but on looking up the road I saw a wagon 
with three men in it driving rapidly off. Ly- 
ing the ground near the buffalo was a fine 
iield glass, w^hich the fellows who stole my 
buffalo ham had dropped in their haste. After 
I had examined it I considered myself well 
paid tor my ham and appropriated it. We 
camped only about a mile off, and when we 
got up in the morning saw two of the fellows 
riding back and forth looking, as I naturally 
supposed, for a held glass, but T doubt if they 
found it. We drove a few miles that morning 
aid found five buffalo but only got one, when 
it began to rain and we had to go into camp. 
We laid up till the rain was over and started 
in. My calf died on the journey, but I killed 
enough antelope to make out a good load. 

For the information of any person East who 
may chance to read this little book, I will 
devote part of this chapter to a brief description 
of Western Kansas generally, and the rivers 
and river valleys in particular. 

Begrinnino^ at the northwester corner of the 
State and coming south the first river is the 



196 THE ADVENTURES OF 

Republican River, which heads in Colorado 
near, the foot of the mountains, and when it 
comes into Kansas is about sixty yards wide 
and is fed by springs. The Republican River 
has several southern tributaries, many ol 
which are supplied with waier and skirted 
with some timber, though not enough to make 
it a good location for saw mills. The next 
stream of note as you go south is Solomon 
River, which in the extreme western part of 
the State is a small stream and has no watc, 
but lower down it receives the waters of many 
large springs and becomes quite a stream. 
This stream is skirted in places with some 
small timber and there are some good loca- 
tions for ranches in this valley. South of 
Solomon River is Cold Goose Creek, which is 
fed by springs, and has some timber. There is 
good mowing in many places and it has a fine 
valley for ranches. The next stream south is 
South Smoky River. This has plenty of 

water and some timber. It is a good stream 

« 
for ranches, but is nearly all taken up. 

South of the Arkansas River are many 



CHAl^LES L YOUNGHLOOJ:). I97 

streams, some ha\e plenty of water and others 
have not. There are many iine phices for 
ranches on them. , 

All this is in the valley of the Arkansas 
River, and with its streams ol water and good 
gr^Lzing is the best buffalo region on the 
globe. 

My buffalo hunting has not been confined 
at all to Kansas, but I have frequently >'^i 
into Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Indian 
Territory and Texas, in fact, there is hardly a 
square mile of western Kansas and the con- 
tiguous territory that I have not explored. I 
think perhaps that I am better acquainted with 
it than any other living man. There is not a 
creek that I cannot describe, not a skirt of 
timber it I have not seen or a range of hills 
that! lot lam ar with. 



198 THl:. ADVENTURES OF 



CHAPTER XXII. 

CONCLUSION. 

And now dear reader as the space allotted 
to this little book is taken I will say a lew 
words by wMy of conclusion and bid you 
adieu. I wish only to say in conclusion that 
in this little book is no attempt at fancitul 
destriptions of imaginary adventures or flow- 
ery style of narration, but it has been my aim 
to state only facts and these in the briefest 
manner practicable, and if you do not consider 
it sufficiently romantic and exciting please re- 
member that it is not a dime novel, but, 
so far as it goes, a true history of my life on 
the plains. Ple.';se remember, also, that it 
was hurriedly written while on a visit to my 
old home and my aged father in Warrick Co., 
Indiana, after an absence of sixteen years, and 
that but few of my adventures are related, 
though enough, I hope, to give you an idea of 
the wild life I have led on the plains. 



CHAl^I.ES L YOUNGIJLOOI). 1 99 

Should any oi my old acquaintances in old 
Hoosierdom ever visit Western Kansas, they 
will find me on a ranch near Granada, Col- 
orado, where I will be glad to entertain them, 
show them the country, or, if they wish, take 
them out on a buffalo hunt. 

But as the time allotted to this visit has 
drawn to a close, and as I must return to my 
ranch and my family, this volume must 
close. 



THE END. 



